The trailer for ‘The Gates’ showcases James Van Der Beek\u2019s final performance, and fans are seeing him in a new light.MEGA, LIONSGATE MOVIES\/YOUTUBE<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Just one week after the world said goodbye to James Van Der Beek<\/strong><\/a>, fans are seeing him in a startling new light \u2014 as a chilling villain in one of his final screen performances.<\/p>\n The late actor, who died February 11 at 48 after a battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer, appears in the newly released trailer<\/a> for The Gates<\/em>, a thriller that now stands as a haunting coda to a career cut short.<\/p>\n Lionsgate unveiled the trailer for ‘The Gates’ movie where James Van Der Beek plays a sinister pastor.LIONSGATE MOVIES\/YOUTUBE<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n On February 18, Lionsgate<\/a> unveiled the trailer for The Gates<\/em>, set for theatrical release March 13. The film stars Mason Gooding<\/strong>, Algee Smith<\/strong><\/a> and Keith Powers<\/strong> as three college friends whose \u201croad trip gone wrong\u201d leads them into a remote gated community where they witness a murder.<\/p>\n Van Der Beek plays a sinister pastor described in the film\u2019s synopsis as \u201cthe cunning patriarch that holds the entire community under his influence.\u201d After the trio unknowingly drive into the neighborhood, they find themselves \u201cblamed, hunted and fractured by their own differing belief systems,\u201d with Van Der Beek\u2019s character emerging as the calculating force behind the terror.<\/p>\n The role marks a striking departure from the earnest Dawson Leery he portrayed on Dawson\u2019s Creek<\/em><\/a>, the WB teen drama that premiered in 1998 and catapulted Van Der Beek to stardom.<\/p>\n James Van Der Beek privately battled stage 3 colorectal cancer since August 2023.MEGA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Van Der Beek revealed in November 2024 that he had been \u201cprivately dealing\u201d with stage 3 colorectal cancer<\/a> since August 2023.<\/p>\n Despite his diagnosis, he continued working, appearing in three Tubi originals \u2014 Sidelined: The QB and Me<\/em>, Sidelined: Rewind with Noah and Siena<\/em> and Sidelined 2: Intercepted<\/em> \u2014 along with TV roles in Walker<\/em>, Overcompensating<\/em> and the upcoming Legally Blonde<\/em> prequel series Elle<\/em>.<\/p>\n Co-stars and friends have honored James Van Der Beek’s legacy in the industry.MEGA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n After news of his death<\/a>, tributes poured in from former co-stars and friends. Katie Holmes<\/strong><\/a> wrote, \u201cTo share space with your imagination is sacred \u2014 breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each others\u2019 hearts are safe in their expression…\u201d Busy Philipps<\/strong><\/a> called him \u201cone in a billion,\u201d while filmmaker Kevin Smith<\/strong><\/a> remembered him as \u201cthe generous, funny, warm, self-effacing superstar who twice helped me make my dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n The official \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d account declared that his \u201ciconic portrayal of Dawson Leery<\/a> helped define a generation of television.\u201d<\/p>\n A GoFundMe was launched to support his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek and their six children.@vanderkimberly\/INSTAGRAM<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In the wake of his passing, a GoFundMe launched<\/a> to support his wife Kimberly<\/strong><\/a> and their six children raised more than $1 million within 24 hours, with over 20,000 donors contributing. Kimberly thanked supporters, writing, \u201cWith gratitude and a broken heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Van Der Beek\u2019s final Instagram post<\/a> announced he had \u201cmet his final days with courage, faith, and grace,\u201d adding, \u201cFor now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n With The Gates<\/em>, audiences will see him one last time \u2014 not as the dreamer on the dock, but as a formidable antagonist. It\u2019s a reminder of his range, his resilience and the enduring mark he leaves behind.<\/p>\n Read more at OK!<\/a><\/p>\n Get OK!’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now<\/a>.<\/p>\n FOLLOW OK! ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, entertainment, and pop culture via our WhatsApp channel<\/a>. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aol.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The trailer for ‘The Gates’ showcases James Van Der Beek\u2019s final performance, and fans are seeing him in a new light.MEGA, LIONSGATE MOVIES\/YOUTUBE Just one week after the world said goodbye to James Van Der Beek, fans are seeing him in a startling new light \u2014 as a chilling villain in one of his final […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2290123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[379275,350837,326689,354496,350582,443419,350581],"class_list":["post-2290122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-colorectal-cancer","tag-dawson-leery","tag-dawsons-creek","tag-final-performance","tag-james-van-der-beek","tag-the-gates","tag-van-der-beek"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/James-Van-Der-Beeks-Final-Curtain-Call-Actor-Stars-as.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2290122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2290124,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290122\/revisions\/2290124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2290123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2290122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2290122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2290122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Dark Final Role<\/h2>\n
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A Career That Defined a Generation<\/h2>\n
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An Outpouring of Support<\/h2>\n
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