{"id":2483746,"date":"2026-07-01T16:59:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2483746"},"modified":"2026-07-01T16:59:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:59:50","slug":"legally-blonde-prequel-elle-pays-tribute-to-late-star-james-van-der-beek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/legally-blonde-prequel-elle-pays-tribute-to-late-star-james-van-der-beek\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLegally Blonde\u201d prequel\u201c Elle\u201d pays tribute to late star James Van Der Beek"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Key Points<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Legally Blonde<\/em> prequel <em>Elle <\/em>is paying tribute to one of its stars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The new Prime Video series dedicates an episode to James Van Der Beek.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Van Der Beek, who died in February, plays superintendent Dean Wilson on the show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>This post contains spoilers from season 1 of <em>Elle<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <em>Elle<\/em> team is paying tribute to one of its own.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <em>Legally Blonde<\/em> prequel series, which follows a teenage Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) as she navigates life in Seattle, dropped its first season on Prime Video, and it features a special dedication. Specifically, the show&#8217;s third episode is dedicated to late star <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/james-van-der-beek\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:James Van Der Beek;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;James Van Der Beek&quot;}\" class=\"link \">James Van Der Beek<\/a>, who plays superintendent Dean Wilson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When Elle&#8217;s father moves her family from sunny Los Angeles to not-so-sunny Seattle, she struggles to fit in \u2014 as does her mother, Eva (June Diane Raphael). But there&#8217;s at least one smiling face to greet the family, and it belongs to beloved local Dean Wilson, who just so happens to be running for mayor. Dean quickly sees potential in Eva&#8217;s knowledge and asks her to join his campaign.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>June Diane Raphael as Eva and James Van Der Beek as Dean on &#8216;Elle&#8217;<br \/>Credit: Kimberley French\/Prime Video<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Elle<\/em> is one of Van Der Beek&#8217;s final projects. The actor was able to finish filming on the series before <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/james-van-der-beek-dawsons-creek-star-dies-at-48-11904646\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:his death;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;his death&quot;}\" class=\"link \">his death<\/a> in February of 2026 from colorectal cancer. At the time of his death, <em>Elle<\/em> executive producer Reese Witherspoon <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/reese-witherspoon-devastated-over-james-van-der-beek-death-11905210\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:posted on social media;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;posted on social media&quot;}\" class=\"link \">posted on social media<\/a>, saying, &#8220;Devastated to hear about James Van Der Beek. What an extraordinary, talented man who also showed great kindness and grace in every action. Praying all the angels watch over his family during this difficult time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with\u00a0our\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;EW Dispatch newsletter&quot;}\" class=\"link \">EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Although Van Der Beek is remembered for many projects over his 30-plus-year career, <em>Elle <\/em>wants to make sure it&#8217;s counted as one of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Elle<\/em> is now streaming on Prime Video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/elle-dedicates-episode-james-van-der-beek-12006051\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Entertainment Weekly;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Entertainment Weekly&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points Legally Blonde prequel Elle is paying tribute to one of its stars. The new Prime Video series dedicates an episode to James Van Der Beek. Van Der Beek, who died in February, plays superintendent Dean Wilson on the show. This post contains spoilers from season 1 of Elle. The Elle team is paying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2483747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[489021,441121,350582,307050,469967,66105],"class_list":["post-2483746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-dean-wilson","tag-elle-woods","tag-james-van-der-beek","tag-legally-blonde","tag-lexi-minetree","tag-prime-video"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Legally-Blonde-prequel-Elle-pays-tribute-to-late-star-James.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483746","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=2483746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2483748,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483746\/revisions\/2483748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2483747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2483746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2483746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2483746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}