Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast

Remembering James Van Der Beek: A Tribute Episode

• Season 1 • Episode 155

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We hold a special place in our hearts for James Van Der Beek, the "Dawson" of our two-year rewatch of Dawson's Creek and football star of Varsity Blues. So we wanted to take the time to remember him properly, through the life he led, the projects he worked on and the family he built.

Thanks for holding space for him, and us, listeners.

This episode was made possible by the following sources:

NPR

Wikipedia

IMDB

People.com

Cheshire Academy

Marie Claire

EW.com

GoFundMe

TMZ

BBC.com


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SPEAKER_00:

Hello everyone, welcome to Generation in Between a Zennial podcast, where we revisit, relearn, remember, and rewatch all kinds of things from being 80s kids and 90s teens. Hi, I'm Katie. And I'm Danny. And you're joining us on a pretty special episode, um, an unfortunate episode. But today we took a break from what we had on our normal schedule, our spreadsheet, um, and decided to talk about something that wasn't originally scheduled, and that is um the life and unfortunate passing of James Vanderbeek. Um, well known around these parts to us and other Zeniles uh and people of all generations as Dawson Leary from Dawson's Creek, as well as some other things. Yes. And so we're like, yes. We're trying to be very professional and not um too goofy because this is uh it will happen uh because it's us.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, also we have papers today, and this is weird. We just like I just got used to using Katie's computer to scroll my notes, and now she hands me papers. I don't know what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_00:

My computer's getting a little tune-up and a new battery. I know that's good. It needs it. So it'll be better the next time we see it. We all need tune-ups and new batteries. Oh my gosh. I wish I could have either thing. Right? But uh so we obviously texted each other, and we talked about this on our Dawson's Creek episode from last week, uh, the day that we heard the news of his passing and kind of texted back and forth about it, and we wondered if we should hop on and record something then, but we decided to give it about a week to kind of well we wanted to give it we wanted to give him the time.

SPEAKER_01:

We didn't want to rush an episode of just us blubbering and crying. We wanted to have facts and research about his life, and I don't think anybody's um mem memorandum not memorandums, what the hell? It's not an email. What memorium, there we go.

SPEAKER_00:

Memorium, there we go.

unknown:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00:

On the Office Facts machines.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh Jesus, should they shouldn't be rushed, right? So, like we Katie was like the day after it happened, we had we were set to record the day after, right? Yeah, the day after he passed, and we're and Katie was like, should we go ahead and do this? And we were like, uh, and then we're like, no, let's wait. And so by the time this episode airs, it will have been two weeks since he passed. Yeah. Right. So that's why y'all didn't have this immediately because we wanted to give it the care and the time that he deserved.

SPEAKER_00:

So absolutely. So we're just basically gonna go through his his bio and some of his work, and then just some other things about him and things people have said about him. And some of this you may already know if you're a Dawsons fan or James Vanderbeek fan. Uh, but hopefully, we have a little more information on you know the nuances of this person and what he means to the people closest to him and the general public as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay. Um, let me just kind of start with it with an opening. So this is um, as we mentioned, he's best known as Dawsons from the Xennial Classic Dawson's Creek. He did pass away February 11th, 2026, after a public battle with colorectal cancer. He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and his six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabelle, Amelia, Gwendolyn, and Jeremiah. That's a lot of children. So many children. They also had several miscarriages, too. Yeah. Yeah. Like in between kids. Several. Yeah. Some were late term as well. That's what I read. It's heartbreaking. But so horrible.

SPEAKER_01:

He had a huge family, which we'll we'll we're gonna talk about later because there has been some financial controversy surrounding him and his family after his death, and we're gonna talk about that later, but just remember how big his family is, okay? Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Because this in mind, and and some of the children are I mean, they're all minors. Yeah, they're all tiny. They're all, they're all, and some are still very young.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they're very young. Um, all right, so I did a lot of the research from like the beginning of his life up till around Dawson's Creek era, varsity blues era, and then Katie kind of took it on from there, which is weird. We don't usually share research.

SPEAKER_00:

So no, we usually don't. It worked out. It did. I we've done it a few times. I'm trying to remember.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we did it wrong, remember?

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know what it was, but we did it wrong. I was like, Katie, no, you were supposed to do that, and you were like, Oh, whoops. Yes, we both did the same research or something. Yeah, that's what it was. And then when we did like TV theme songs, yeah, you did some and I did some. But it's been a minute.

SPEAKER_01:

It's been a bit, it's been a minute, but it went okay, especially because we had a shared document and so we were working on it at opposite times, which was helpful. I agree. Yeah, because because I just did a chunk and then she did a chunk and then I went back in and then she went back in and it worked. Anyway, y'all don't care about that. Y'all don't care.

SPEAKER_00:

So that's the process.

SPEAKER_01:

That is the process that we went through today, guys. Because listen, we are self-everything podcast. Like this is it, except for there is an invisible person that is Katie's husband. That also does work.

SPEAKER_00:

He does. Yeah, he did not do any of this research, but he will make us sound good. Yes, he doesn't have the information.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so let's talk about James Vanderbeek and his beginnings. So he was born March 8th, 1977. Okay. So he is a Zennial then.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I feel like I think we covered that in varsity blues, but for some reason I was thinking he was a little older. But yeah, he's a Zennial. 77 to 83.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, he was born in Cheshire. I don't know if it's Cheshire or Cheshire, Connecticut. One of those guys. That's how it's spelled. His mom, Melinda, uh, was a dancer and a gymnastics teacher. And his dad, who well, actually, his name is James David Vanderbeek Jr. So his dad was James William Vanderbeek, which I was sitting there and I was, I was like, my best friend was in town visiting, and I said, Amber, do you know, like, when you're a junior or a senior, does it have to be the whole name, like the middle name? I guess not, because his dad was William.

SPEAKER_00:

I always thought it was the whole name.

SPEAKER_01:

So did I, but she was like, I don't know. And we looked for the answer, we don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

So I guess it could be.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I guess it doesn't matter. So anyway, he was named after his dad, is what y'all need to know. And his dad was a former minor league baseball pitcher who signed with the um the LA Dodgers after he graduated from um well, they're minor league team, obviously. Um, after he graduated from Lafayette College, and then after that, he left that career. I couldn't find much on when he left or anything. He became a cell phone company executive, and he did that for like 30 years. Dang. So, you know, any kind of professional sports stuff, there was probably an injury, my guess, and we had to step down.

SPEAKER_00:

So, anyway, he had very athletic parents. Yeah, gymnast and baseball players.

SPEAKER_01:

And she was a dancer, yeah. Yeah, so that those were his his parents. Um, he has two younger siblings, he's the eldest of three. Everybody has J names. So Jared is his brother who was born in 79, and Juliana uh is his sister who was born in 81. So all three of them are xennials.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so fun. Is that the zenial family?

SPEAKER_01:

They're all in our club. Um, the fun fact I found out about his last name, Vanderbeek, is um of Dutch origin, and the meaning is translate ironic translates ironically to from the brook or of the stream. Wow. But what about the creek? Well, I mean a creek and a brook and a whatever. I can't be exactly, but I just thought that was interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so cool, right? Because this is a person who will probably most be remembered for being from that show. I know, and he was the title character.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I just thought that was really funny.

SPEAKER_00:

That's really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so speaking of his parents, his mom died in 2020, but he has always been very vocal about how close he is with his parents. Like he had a very good relationship with them. Um, and especially how supportive his dad has been, especially since his mom passed. He had a whole lot of heartfelt like tributes on Insta to his dad. There's a really cute picture of his dad with all his grandbabies. There's so many, because it's like James's kids and his siblings' kids. It's so cute. Um, so like a lot of holidays and milestones, he was very his dad, he was very close to his dad.

SPEAKER_00:

So that's so sweet. And his dad's still living, yeah. It's just his mom. His mom. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so let's talk about that's his beginnings. Let's talk about how he became a professional actor because he started very young. I didn't, I don't think I realized this. I know we brushed on it a little bit. Uh when do and varsity blues. So when he was 13, he got a concussion playing football. And the doctor said you can't play football for a whole year, which I'm surprised because back then there was not concussion protocol, guys. No. In the early 90s, late 80s, like there was not. Um, I had several, I think I talked about this on varsity blues. Uh, I had several friends who knocked out on the field during a game and they were back in playing. Like, I mean, it was that was the times we lived in. Um, anyway, so he was on break from sports and he's like, I think I'll try some theater.

unknown:

Why not?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so he was cast as Danny in Greece, and then he was Reuben in Joseph and the amazing technicolor dream coat. Um, and then he started being in other local theater productions. Oh, but those were two school school shows he was on. Cute. But at 14, he got a full four-year scholarship to attend a prestigious private school in the area, Cheshire Academy. Oh. In Connecticut. Yeah. So they had a public school and they also had a private academy, like where you like live, like you were on campus, like it was very, very prestigious. He got a full scholarship, um, which actually ends up being important to his career, and I'll tell you that in a second. So when he was 16, his mom took him to New York to get him an agent. And they weren't living in New York full time, they're living in Connecticut, which is just a train right away. Um, so they got an agent, and he was cast pretty quickly in an off-Broadway play called Finding the Sun, playing the role of Fergus. Um, so what he would do was he would he would have breakfast on campus, go to class, and then later in the afternoon take a train into the city for rehearsals, take a train back, and once he got back, he would do all his homework and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, that's a lot for a teenager.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And I mean, in general, kids in the entertainment industry have have to do that. I feel like a lot of them though do it with like private tutors and things like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So to actually physically need to go to your school and go back there to spend the night and do your homework. I know. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

That's that takes a lot. I mean, you gotta be dedicated and you gotta be you gotta be disciplined. Because ain't nobody there telling you what to do. Plus, he's on a scholarship, so he's gotta do well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, he also during that time had a guest role on the Nickelodeon show, Clarissa Explains It All. It was the episode where she pretends to be some like somebody else, and um she gets a crush on the drummer in a band, and it he played the drummer. His name was Polly.

SPEAKER_00:

Stop. I need to look that up if I want to watch it. Adorable.

SPEAKER_01:

It's adorable.

SPEAKER_00:

Polly the drummer.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. Um when he was 17, he was cast in another play, uh, a production called Shannon Doa. And then at 18, he graduated second in his class, which is crazy, I know, um, while simultaneously performing in professional theater. And he was also his senior year, was filming uh his feature film debut as a bully in the movie Angus. We talked about that, and you were like, What is this? And I was like, Oh my god, I forgot.

SPEAKER_00:

I still don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe we should watch it.

SPEAKER_00:

This is probably, yeah, the reminder that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_01:

The reminder we need to watch that. Um, so speaking of the academy, the academy's flexibility um really he credits with allowing him to have success because they let him like faxen homework and term papers if needed. They worked with him with his schedule if rehears he had like rehearsals that demanded his time. Um, so he kind of had like this dual path. And he frequently talked about how if he wouldn't have had that, he would not have been able to do the things he did.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So he was their like commencement speaker during uh, I think in 2020, and talked to the students there. They have a really nice tribute to him on their website.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um, so another scholarship he obtained was after graduation, he got an academic scholarship because he's a smart cookie to Drew University in New Jersey. Um, he was working towards obtaining a major in English with a minor in sociology. Uh, he was there from 94 to 97, but he had to leave when Dawson's Creek started filming.

SPEAKER_00:

So he was there like three years.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so he never finished, but then he got an honorary degree like a few years ago.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. But he never did finish.

SPEAKER_01:

Um the fun fact I found about his time in college, while he was there, he was in a male a cappella singing group. Stop. Yes. What was it called? I don't know. I couldn't find the name, but I thought that's so funny because you remember the episode of Dawson's Creek where he's drunk in a bar and singing, and we're like, ow, but I guess he's just a really good actor because apparently he could sing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, apparently. I mean, and he was in those musicals. I know he was like 13. Oh, yeah, but us, but still, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So I guess he can sing. He could sing. Okay. So we're almost to Dawson Creek days in 1996. He had another small, well, this was this was a smaller role than his role in Angus. Um, he got a small supporting role in the movie I Love You, I Love You Not, which starred Claire Danes. And then, as we all know, in 1997, he got his life-changing role in Dawson's Creek. Um, he was 21, maybe 20 when he auditioned, and 21 when it aired. I'm not sure. Because that a lot, here's the thing about the internet, y'all. In case you didn't know this, in case you listen up, it's really hard to find the exact fact about something because even on reputable sources, like you I went to a lot, you can see our like list of sources. Some things say 20, some say 21, some say his first play was Grease, some say it was Joseph, some say this. And this isn't like dumb and from like it's not like silly stuff, like but it's hard to find facts.

SPEAKER_00:

That's interesting. I guess from that far back, maybe. No, it's just the internet's full of dumb dumb people. I don't know. I don't know why I'm giving the internet a pass. I know. I'm sorry, everyone.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think I think it's a it was a reminder to me that you should always, always have more than one source you're referencing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And fucking stay away from AI generated answers.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh. So, girl, I looked up because I looked up regular sources, but I looked up in Chat GPT. Stop using that. That is bad for our environment. And this is this is to bolster your case. That's why I'm not sure. Well, I don't need to bolster it. I for the listeners, for the listeners who might be on the fence. I type in, show me um uh what did I say, show me an obituary for James Vanderbeek. And it told me he's not dead. Okay, see it was like, hmm, we can't find any information that he is. I was like, okay, uh listen. Okay, bye.

SPEAKER_01:

Y'all know I could go on a whole big soapbox about AI, and I'm not going to because that's not what today is about. It's not. I feel like James Vanderbeek was probably against AI.

SPEAKER_00:

Probably, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, but listen, if you do not know about the environmental damage, that even the dumb little AI things y'all be doing out, I say y'all because I ain't doing it, that y'all be doing out there making your images something, that is hurting your environment. And I know that sounds crazy, but please go read the research. For if that is the only reason that you don't use AI, let it be that. Because you guys, we are burning up our planet, and y'all need to be going to watch that dinosaurs finale and see. Yes, and check out our dinosaurs episodes. I mean that too. But also anyway, stop using AI. Katie texted me yesterday. She was trying to get these outfits for a photo shoot, which is amazing. And I did not zoom in, and she was like, I was like, she's like, look at these outfits. And I didn't realize what she said. She said she was trying on things from Amazon. I thought she meant she ordered things from Amazon and was trying on. Also, stay away from Amazon, guys.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, that too.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, also, don't let don't let our capitalistic culture tell you you have to have a new outfit for everything. Because guess what? The outfit that looked the cutest was something Katie already had.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and that's the thing. I said you were trying. Now I'm gonna buy new stuff for this photo shoot because I need kind of plain stuff anyway. Right. And I have a closet full of like plain things and black and white and whatever. But the person who's helping me with my publicist stuff, who's amazing, had sent me like an Amazon list, even just to like look at just for idea. Just for Inspi. And she she wasn't like, You she was like, you don't have to buy stuff. This is just like different colors. And Amazon has this button, it's AI. Yo, that's well, what I like is when they have models of different sizes, and so I'll click on that. So they'll be like, let me see it in a size 10, let me see it in a large, let me see, because you know sometimes the models be like super small, or you can even tell it your height sometimes, depending on the site. Um, good American, the jeans brand, Chloe Kardashian's company, they have a really good like version of that, and it's real people wearing the clothes or whatever. So I clicked the button that said style on you, thinking it would like ask me my size or my height. No, no, it asked me to upload a picture of myself. So I did, from standing in the mirror taking pictures of the stuff I already own to send my publicist and to show Danny. And it started putting the clothes on me, and that's what I sent you.

SPEAKER_01:

And I didn't, I was like, Oh, I like the first and third outfits, those are cute. And then she she's like, girl, those are AI. I was like, What? So then I went and zoomed in, y'all. Her hand was like melted into her phone.

SPEAKER_00:

It was, it was really scary.

SPEAKER_01:

It was like a numb, but it was like a scary. But the I say that because I didn't notice at first glance. I didn't notice, and that's that's the scary part I think people should be really freaked out about. Is you don't always know, but it's always something a little off or just plain ass incorrect. The hard part, I think, is when you go to Google now and you Google something, it doesn't give you a choice. It automatically gives you AI. Please scroll past it, just scroll past it, y'all, and go to the sources and don't and click on the link. Click on the actual links because what it does is it puts all this info together, but some of it might not be true. Or it might be like uh somebody's opinion that they find.

SPEAKER_00:

Also, I had this discussion with um a client of mine that owns a pediatric practice because she was approached by a company that basically specializes in that now. You know how companies used to sort of, well, I I don't know, listeners, you might not know, they used to specialize in like getting your ranking on Google Hire. Oh, so there's companies that did then still do your search engine optimization. Well, now there's this whole other industry where they're trying to get your info in that AI generation. But here's what I said to her. Because she was like, What do you think about this? Because she's not really a market, you know, she's a doctor. Like we were talking. She's like, Do you think this is helpful? Should I do this? I said, if people see those, they don't click. Like you might give them the information. Read what's there. They're not gonna go to your site. Nope. They probably won't even know it was from you. Nope. Like, I was like, now, what's your goal? Do you just want the correct info out there? And if so, then maybe. But if you're thinking of it as like, oh, we'll get more patients, we'll get people to our site. I don't think it'll work for that. I don't think so either. So she was kind of like, Oh, I don't know what my goal is. I don't like misinformation though. So she was kind of torn on it. And I understand that I get it, yeah. But I was like, nobody's clicking on those things. Anyway, that was our that was our little spin off of AI. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I hate AI, I hate it so much. Okay, so what got me going on that? Oh, I don't know. Uh don't know. Well, anyway, we're back. We're gonna back to Dawson's Creek and James Vanderbeek's big break.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so he actually auditioned for three TV pilots that season. Okay. And um landed the role of Dawson Leary on Dawson's Creek. You know, they actually considered Joshua Jackson for their the role of Dawson as well.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I feel like Joshua Jackson can do anything. I know. He's amazing. So he could have done it, but it's really hard to imagine him as anyone other than Pacey. Right. And vice versa.

SPEAKER_01:

And what I think what I think is interesting is um some people say, like, this is the role James Vanderbeek is the most well known for, which I think later in his career he tried really hard to do roles that were everything opposite. And those are some of the roles that critics and people love the most. And I think because he was having more fun, being something you know what I'm saying? So I think that that's interesting because he was kind of typecast as this like nice guy, all American, which helped his fame rise. Dreamer, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But that, but so he was kind of like pigeonholed for a bit, and then he wasn't. And I'm telling you, we'll we'll talk about this when we get there. Some of some of that work of his is his best. I mean, it's his comedic timing is hilarious, and a lot of people don't know that if they only know him from this show.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

But let's talk a little bit about Dawson's Creek, even though we talk about it a lot on our episode.

SPEAKER_00:

Connor Rebatch, but if you found us just for this episode, first of all. Rewatched with us, start with season one, but also um welcome. I am making it zero sense. Quick, one more quick little side note. My husband and I stopped at the grocery store on my way here because he was dropping me off and I'm here all day. And I was like, I gotta get like a salad for later or something. But I didn't have a list and I wasn't sure what I wanted. Oh no. So we walk in and I am just like a kid lost in the middle of Times Square. Like he's like, Have you never been to the grocery store before? Are you okay? I was like, um, okay, we're gonna do this, but this, but wait, you know what would be good? Maybe. Were you also hungry? I was hungry. See, yeah, that's that's it right now. I wasn't in a hurry to get here because we had lots of time before you would arrive, but I knew he needed to get home to get my middle schooler out. So I was sort of panicked in my brain. And it was like I walked in and I was like, oh my gosh, I haven't thought this through. And I was a disaster. He was like, Are you gonna be okay today? Like, are you all right? And I was like, I'm okay. Like, I just don't have a list, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm hungry, so I want everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying to think ahead, and I can't, and I was just a mess. So, all that to say, um, I don't know where that came from. I know what were we talking about? Oh, when I couldn't finish my sentence, frankly. It's just today, it's just today for me. And I am sorry, listeners, thank God we have some of this written.

SPEAKER_01:

I am sure. Well, you know, I can never go in a store without a list.

SPEAKER_00:

A grocery store.

SPEAKER_01:

I cannot either. And when I'm there hungry, oh my god. I my actually my family loves it when I go hungry because I buy shit that I don't normally buy, like junk food wise. And usually when I go in and I have a list, I only buy what's on the list. Yeah. And because then that way I'm like zero focused and I'm like zeroed in and I got it, and I'm unlocked. But if I go hungry, all bets are off. I am buying stupid shit that nobody needs, including myself, and my family loves it. And so it's the best day. They'll always know when you know, when I go to the store and like they like to do inventory. I always say they take inventory. Trigger will be like, Were you hungry today? When you went to the store. And I'm like, How did you know? So I try so hard not to, because I do the same thing. I was I gotta have direction, and then you throw hunger in there, everything. Whatever. So, what'd you end up buying?

SPEAKER_00:

I got um some like those handheld tomato soups. Like that's what she bought. But then I also got um Public Snakes, like those fresh-made meals. I got some chicken quesadillas to heat up.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, that's really good. You know what I would have bought if I was hungry and had no list? It would have been like little Debbie snacks. Stupid junk. I I don't I can't like food food. I can't zero in. Or if I'm really or if I was getting food food, I'd probably buy like a ginormous sandwich or like something green.

SPEAKER_00:

When I got here and I realized a family dropped off some snacks that they'd been meaning to bring to me since we did frozen. Oh it's like chip bags of chips and stuff that they accidentally took home and they've been trying to bring it back anyway. So then I walked in and I saw all these chips, and I was like, oh no, I have to eat the quesadillas first. But these are here if I need them.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotta love a chip.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. They have chips and everything.

SPEAKER_01:

I bought you ever do you ever eat plantain chips? I do. Okay. Oh, those are good. FYI, everybody. They just open at Trader Joe's by my house, which is lovely. And talk about the snacks you want to buy there. Oh, yeah. They have these plantain chips that are Caribbean jerk seasoning.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god. That sounds good.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my god. I once I get going, I can't stop eating them. They're so spicy and they're so good. Oh, you need them.

SPEAKER_00:

I need them. You know, I haven't been in the Trader Joe's. People have given me things from the Trader Joe's, like as gifts. You need to go at like a really dark. It opened around Christmas. Yeah. So a lot of my students gave me like, well, they have fun seasonal stuff. Or like, yeah, like they bought me cute stuff from there. Well, you haven't been in there.

SPEAKER_01:

My advice it's always busy.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what I've heard.

SPEAKER_01:

Never go on the weekends. Okay. Go like at a weirdo time, like right when they open. Even on the weekend, you could probably go right when they open, like at nine, or go like an hour before they close.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Which might be better for you.

SPEAKER_00:

I like the Trader Joe's Takis. Have you guys had those? Yeah, they're fine. You don't like them? Do you like regular talkies?

SPEAKER_01:

Nah, I don't really like Takkies. Oh. I mean, they're fine. Look, I don't I don't turn down a chip item.

SPEAKER_00:

Especially spicy.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I gotta have well, I will turn down a chip item if there's no flavor. Like, I ain't got time for like no flavor chips. I hate baked lace. Yeah, girl. I don't want nothing baked chips. I want chips.

SPEAKER_00:

They need to be crispy.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, let's move on. Let's keep going. My bad. Um, so let's talk about Dawson's Creek. Uh the this show actually saved the floundering WB Network. Wow. And it started the boom of teen-centered dramas that were a little different. This show was different than like the other ones that were popular at the time, like Beverly Hills 902 0. It wasn't about rich kids. It was supposed to be about kind of normal kids who were just a little more intelligent presenting than 9020 characters. Sure. A little more intellectual. Um, it was supposed to feel more attainable and like reflective.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I get that from it.

SPEAKER_01:

So, you know, and especially they were on the East Coast, not the West Coast, you know, in a small town, even though nobody's lots of people are not taking a rowboat somewhere. But I was gonna say nobody's in their canoe. I mean, it still had to have some element of TV, but it did. Um, interestingly enough, Fox Network originally was offered the show and they turned it down. Ooh. I know, I bet that that was a huge regret of them. Uh and after they got after Kevin Williamson, the creator of the show, got rejected by Fox, you're gonna love this. He adopted a dog and he named it Dawson. And he said, I thought that would be my only memory of the script.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay. So he had already named the character of Dawson when he got the dog. Yeah. Oh and then the dog probably outlived the show. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, probably. Yeah. And I found a picture of Kerr Smith with the dog.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. What kind of dog was it? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

A brown one.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh sh, a brown one. Come on. Listen, y'all.

SPEAKER_01:

My sister, I think y'all heard on a few episodes back, I was saying my sister got a boxer puppy and keeps sending me pictures, and I'm like, whatever. And so I said I'm just gonna send them all to Katie. The latest one was of her in her car seat. So freaking cute. And I'm like, Katie will appreciate this the way my sister needs it to be appreciated. Cause I'm just like, great, it's a dog. I mean, it is cute, it's so cute. I mean, she's cute. Um, so very quickly, James Vanderbeek became seen as a heartthrob, especially for tweens, not teens. Okay. I mean, yes, for teens, but like this whole tween marketing kind of got bigger around this time. Um, and teen people and the mag the magazine Teen Celebrity gave him a lot of focus because his character was kind of seen as safe. He was like a nice guy, quote unquote all American looks. Um, he was conventionally attractive, I guess to say. He appealed to the masses or whatever. He was considered like a safe in in contrast to like the Dylans of 902 and oh, right? James Vanderbeek was a complete opposite of that. Um, so this kind of shot his stardom. I mean, all of them, all of the actors on the show, but him especially, especially because the show was named after him. Ironically enough, he was not in every episode of Dawson's Creek.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we watched one today, he wasn't.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. Do you know who was in the most episodes of all the actors? Michelle Williams? No, it was Katie Holmes.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh that was that it felt like that was maybe the most obvious, but then I wasn't sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Even the show was named after Dawson. I think I think it said I meant to write it down and I forgot he wasn't not in six episodes, which isn't that many, but I think they wrote around him when he was filming varsity blues, for sure and a couple other things.

SPEAKER_00:

So six isn't that many in seasons, but I bet Katie Holmes probably didn't miss any, or maybe two or three. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

So remember how in the first season we talked about his necklace?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so that necklace that Dawson wore, and mostly almost every episode, I mean he still wears them in in these seasons. It was made by James Vanderbeek's mom. What? Yep, and the wardrobe people um tried to center every outfit Dawson wore at first, like around that necklace.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, because it's very um, it's kind of got that like beachy, yeah, surfer-y, kind of vacation-y feel.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you remember those were really popular at the time. Yeah, but his mom made it. Oh, it's so sweet. I know. I just thought that was a fun little tidbit. Um and like I said, because audiences associated him so much with his Dawson character, pretty much like none of his other film or TV roles after the show gave him that same level of fame. Like people appreciated it, it was well-known things, but nothing was at the level of Dawson Leary. Sure. You know, and he fought against it and he tried, but that's and I mean, I think he he embraced it. It's not like he was like, ugh. Like I think he gave it credit that you know, he appreciated it. Yeah. Um, I'll say one more fact, and then Katie can take over with the notes. Uh, he was named as one of people's 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1998.

SPEAKER_00:

Aw. Okay, so yeah, he was in his 20s, I guess. I was like, I don't know how I feel about teenagers being on that list. He wasn't. Well, he was 20 adult on the show. Yeah, he was an adult. He just played a teenager. Okay. That's fair. That's totally fair.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so we've kind of touched on this a little, and we have an entire episode about it, guys. So check it out. In 1999, he starred in the football team drama varsity blues. Yes. A lot of critics, and we talked about this in our episode too, didn't really like the movie, but like viewers absolutely loved it. It won Vanderbeek a Teen Choice Award and an MTV movie award for his breakout performance. Love that. And y'all don't know, like, those used to be a big deal. Do they not do them anymore? They I think they do, yeah. Okay. I think they do. And he, and you know, it was an MTV movie, and we've talked about this too. The music was so good. So good. So it was like at that time when you would really like a movie, and then you'd also get the soundtrack or whatever. It was right in that pocket. Yeah. Like the Can't Hardly Waits, and all the other ones right in there, where you love the movie, but you also love the music, Empire Records, all of that stuff. So that was that was fun. That was fun movie. It was fun. Then in 2001, he played himself in a brief but memorable cameo where he swore and referenced his own hit TV show in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

SPEAKER_01:

I remember that. I forgot about that until I read that you typed that, and I meant to look up the clip and I forgot to do it, but I'm gonna do that today. We're gonna look up the clip.

SPEAKER_00:

He he's like got a wig on and he looks like um Jay. Love it, and he takes it off, yeah. Um, because he's playing, he's playing Jay in the movie about it. And he's James Vanderbilt. Right. And they've referenced Dawson that's hilarious. That's hilarious. That's how my husband knew him. Yeah. Like when we've been watching Dawson, he's like, Oh, that's the guy from Jay and Silent Bob because he's a huge Kevin Smith fan. Um, and Kevin Smith actually, since since his passing, has come out with like a big long thing on online. A lot of celebrities have just about how much he enjoyed working with him. Yeah, he was very well loved in the Hollywood world, and how he really appreciated how James Van Riek was just like, Oh, you want me to make fun of myself? Okay, yeah. Like we've never met, I don't really know you, we've never worked together.

SPEAKER_01:

That sounds good. Well, and we'll get to this. And uh when he did Don't Trust the Bee in Apartment 23, I have to watch. Oh god, it have to, y'all. I told y'all about it a while ago because our friend Anthony had told me to watch it um when he knew that um we were doing the Dawsons rewatch. You guys, it is hilarious, and he he makes himself out to be well, his character is written to be himself, but like this arrogant, like player, yeah, like super shitty guy, like willing to do anything to get back famous. Oh my gosh, you have anyway, we'll get there.

SPEAKER_00:

We have to watch it, or I have to watch it. Yeah, you do. Then in 2002, he starred in the rules of attraction. He played a drug dealing college student who engages in a variety of vices, which is kind of fun. A little departure. A variety of vices, a variety of vices could be anything, just pull from your little toolbox of vices. I don't I don't know. I should have stopped. Okay, then in 2003, after the finale of Dawson's Creek, Vanderbeek returned to the stage, starring off Broadway in Rain Dance.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't know he went back.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, I didn't either. Yeah, he had recurring roles on the popular series How I Met Your Mother. I remember him on there, and One Tree Hill, which is where Chad Michael uh Murray was too season five of Dawson's Creek. And then he took another self-referential role, so playing himself in Don't Trust the Bee in Apartment 23, and he was a fictionalized, womanizing, sleazy version of himself. Yes, it was so good who struggled with ongoing typecasting while trying to revitalize his career. And as Danny mentioned earlier, a lot of people think that this was like his best work. Yeah, like the best work he did.

SPEAKER_01:

And he was in there's this one episode where he comes out with his own jeans, and now the name of them is leaving me. I'm sure y'all that know like a funny name, yeah, and it's so funny. I God, they're called like Vanderjeans, or that's not right. That's really like something like that. It's something no, because that's something to do with his butt. But anyway, it's he's he was all in on that show. Like you can tell he had so much fun.

SPEAKER_00:

I honestly may start watching it tonight. It's good, and they're short, they're like half hour, 20 minutes, whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, regular sit coming. I wasn't the first couple uh episodes, I was like, and then it got it got really good. Okay, and is it like one season? Like how Yeah, I think it well, I don't remember if it was one season or two, but it wasn't, it was short-lived. It's short. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, cool.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't watch the whole thing, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00:

Got it. So he also guest starred in CSI Cyber, and he had a role in the first season of Post.

SPEAKER_01:

I remember that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

He competed on Dancing with the Stars and The Mass Singer, and he provided voices in the Disney Channel animated children's series Vamperina. He was on the Mass Singer not like just a year or two ago, right? I want to say yeah, tw 2024.

SPEAKER_01:

Because they some of his clues had to do with his cancer diagnosis.

SPEAKER_00:

I remember that.

SPEAKER_01:

Again, singing.

SPEAKER_00:

Singing. Yeah. She's like, yep, that's what they do on that show. They wear costumes and they sing. Um, so let's get into a little bit of his personal life.

SPEAKER_01:

All right.

SPEAKER_00:

So he's at his death, he was married to his wife, Kimberly, who he married in 2010. He was actually married once before that, uh, from 2003 to 2010, Heather McComb. She was actually an actress from Party of Five, and she was introduced to James after her sister Jennifer played a small guest role on Dawson's Creek. I looked it up. Okay, who was she? It's the woman with the curly hair that Pacey meets in the convenience store or wherever at the Halloween episode. Yeah. And he takes like crusads and her psychotic boyfriend shows up. That's her. Oh my god, that's so funny. Yeah. So her and the whole Dawson's Creek cast stayed friends, and then later she introduced her sister. Oh my god, that's so funny. Um, so then I found I went looking for this Heather McComb, his first wife, and I did find a Facebook post she had shared uh after he passed away, and she shared a photo that was taken on her 21st birthday with the two of them just smiling, and in the photo caption, she said, Dawson's Creek hadn't even aired yet. This is how I'll always see James, innocent, kind, and pure of heart. And then she quoted, Um, what a journey we shared over the years. I sit here in immense gratitude for the special connection, friendship, and love that James and I shared that has endured through the decades. I will treasure the last loving words we exchanged. I know that James loved being a father so much, and know how he loved Kimberly with his everything true soulmates. And more. I don't want to cry, but anyway, she it seems like they were amicable. She was very supportive of like him and his family. They did not have any children together when they were together. So James met then Kimberly following his divorce in 2010. He was on a trip to Israel with a friend, and they were kind of in like a tour group, and Kimberly was in the same tour group, and he was, I guess, the way he said it is he was sort of having a heart to heart with his friend about life and you know an existential crisis because he's just gotten divorced and career and everything. And this rude woman interrupted them to ask a question of his own. She knew that was Dawson.

unknown:

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

She was like, let me go ask him a question. Let me go ask this other guy that's talking to this person. I have no idea who he is. I love him. But then they started talking more, and three days later they started dating. Now that's crazy. Together a couple months later, and she was pregnant with their first child um after they'd been dating for six months.

SPEAKER_01:

Whoa.

SPEAKER_00:

And they got married when she was um they got married the next month. So she was already pregnant with their first one, Olivia.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so they started having kids in 2010. I think they had their last one in 2022. Their sixth baby. Yeah. So that's only 12 years to have a well, she was pregnant more than that. So yeah. So they kept building their family and they moved out to Texas in 2020, where they lived on a ranch and they grow a lot of their own food. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not completely off the grid, but a little more unplugged than Los Angeles was. I can't imagine trying to raise that many kids in Los Angeles.

SPEAKER_01:

That would be they were definitely like big, like in tune with nature people. They're very holistic, very holistic, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um yeah, in tune with nature, wanting to grow their own food, wanting to just be outside. Their kids are homeschooled, opposite of me. They were not indoorsy like um Danny. I know. They were not.

SPEAKER_01:

I also have no desire to live off the grid ever in my life. I don't even want a vacation off the grid, guys. No, I put my phone away, but I need electricity, is what I mean.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Yeah, the closest we got is we've stayed in the Blue Ridge Mountains a couple times, and we have electricity in modern all that. We don't really have internet. That's fine. To the point that I like sometimes panic a little because I'm like, oh my god, what if we need something? But oh that's true. But I don't need internet or phones.

SPEAKER_01:

But like I need plumbing and AC or heat and or heat.

SPEAKER_00:

And or yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't care.

SPEAKER_00:

So in late 2024, Vanderbeek publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer the previous year, and not long after he shared that diagnosis, he appeared on TV in the real full months. How did we miss this? I I guess they're replaying it. I saw something on on Instagram and had some other faces I recognized, um, in which he and other male stars stripped to raise awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer and to fundraise for research. How did we miss that? I do not know. Because we were doing this podcast last time. I know I don't know. I can't imagine it was on Primetime TV. I don't know where it aired. Girl, there is no primetime TV no more.

SPEAKER_01:

It wasn't on TGIF, so we missed it in 2024. I'm just saying, like, that did not even come like when you typed that, I was like, what?

SPEAKER_00:

We missed this. And then I saw something about how it's being re-aired. Who else was in it? It's gonna be on Apple TV. Uh I'll pull up a picture later. I can't remember off the top of my head, but um, one of the guys was um Bruno, the judge from Dancing with the Stars.

unknown:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

The smaller, smaller guy. I never watched Bruno. He's an older gentleman. Uh and then I there were six or seven gentlemen. Okay, he's an old guy. So they get like nude? I guess so. Are they like I'm sure you can't like see? They're stripping, but you can't like see everything. So it's like burlesque. I think so. That's what it looked like.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

At least in the picture I saw. I went and saw the full Monty like stage stage show.

SPEAKER_01:

And they get naked.

SPEAKER_00:

They do, but the way they do the lighting, you can't see anything.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you usually just see cheeks.

SPEAKER_00:

I did see cheeks. You just see cheeks, not balls. There's a reveal at the end, but you don't really see it. Yeah. Yeah. Because they like black.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you don't see wieners. No.

SPEAKER_00:

You don't.

SPEAKER_01:

No wieners, just cheeks.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right. So that so maybe that's what this was. No wieners, just cheeks.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe a shadow of a testicle.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, maybe a shadow of one. I had to think about it. I was like, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01:

That sounds right. That sounds right. Because if you're seeing from the back, right. Because if you saw it from the front, there's no shadow. Correct.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we're gonna have to watch it and see. Uh so then in 2025, his cancer again made headlines as he decided to auction off some props and clothing from his personal collection of Dawson's Creek and Far City Blue's memorabilia. And he was raising money for his cancer treatments specifically. So I think that was the first inkling to people that like there was trouble there financially, which is not surprising if you're fighting cancer. Uh and we'll get into this a little later, as far as like the health insurance side of actors and people like that, on what that looks like. But I think I remember at that time a few people like, what? Like Dawson? You need money for both one, it's expensive, and two, this this man has not been Dawson for 26 years or whatever. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so yeah. Well, also, like, I think I've I've read a lot of posts from uh his friends, celebrity friends, just saying this should be like a um this should be a a shine the light moment to see that even if you're a celebrity, health insurance and health care in this country is ridiculous. Yeah, like because I don't know, I don't think he had health insurance, which we'll get to. And for those of y'all out there who are scoffing at that, you don't Must then you must be lucky enough to not understand how expensive health insurance is, especially if you are having to pay for it yourself and don't have a job that it that includes. Right. Right. And so especially you have a terminal illness, even if he did get health insurance, guess what? Little education here for you. If he got health insurance after he'd already been diagnosed with cancer, they won't cover anything in regards to that treatment because it is a pre-existing condition. That's correct. And um for everybody else in the world who knows how expensive everything is, I can't even imagine.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

I can't even imagine.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's, I mean, in my opinion, it's great that people have donated money to him. I know there's some people that don't feel that way, but I think it's great, but they shouldn't have to. We shouldn't have to, that's he shouldn't be bankrupt because he got cancer.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Or not bankrupt, but you know what I mean. He his his family that he left behind shouldn't be struggling because he was sick.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And and so we can kind of like, and this happens just in everyday life when when someone passes away or whatever, and they had a they had an illness, or maybe they were hospitalized after an accident for a long time before they passed away. And and it makes us kind of feel good to be like, oh good, we've raised, you know, fifty thousand dollars for this family, but it's going to pay like medical bills or insurance.

SPEAKER_01:

And probably not even unfortunately making a dent, a huge dent that you want it to make. Exactly. You know, I mean it's like healthcare, in my opinion, in this country, is is awful. And we we won't go into all of that, but that's a glaring example. It really is. And we'll talk more about how his fine like that being said, there are some other financial things, but I think I can't remember which celebrity friend of his said this, but basically when people were being jerks about it online, the friend was like, Y'all just need to shut the fuck up. You don't know what you're talking about, like you don't know his life. And I think it's easy for us to be like, Oh, you're this rich celebrity, lived on this ranch, which by the way, they were renting until not too far before he died. And his friends actually gave him money to pay for the down payment. But anyway, it's none of our it's it isn't our our right to judge anybody in fine with finances in that kind of circumstance with medical stuff, because we don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Like you don't know, we don't, and I think it's easy to just have a flash judgment instantly on people who are like at a uh celebrities in any capacity, but then when you start digging, which Katie did a lot, a lot of detailed digging, it's like oh it's not it's not as uh simple as we think, it's not, and this goes back to what we've talked about even early when we one of our first podcast episodes when we were talking about Britney Spears and the commoditization of celebrities, where we feel like we somehow can speak about them a certain way, we know what like they deserve our opinions thrown at them because we can access them because this is a life they chose. And even in his case, like well, he was famous and he lived on this ranch and he didn't have to do that, and he could have had more work in, but like we don't know they're human beings.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and also if you don't want to donate money, then don't. Right. You can't like if his friends who are rich people want to give his family money, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Let them, and yeah, it's not coming out of anyone's pocketing.

SPEAKER_01:

Listen, I can think of plenty other people in the limelight who get money for pretty horrible things. Yeah. Crickets.

SPEAKER_00:

But yes, yes. So, okay. So speaking of money. Yes, yes. Well, I was just gonna quickly touch on that reunion that we had in September, just this past September 2025, the one we wanted to go to. So badly. So badly. Ugh. And actually, James Vanderbeek didn't end up being able to make it because he was so sick from the cancer, but also some some stomach viruses. But his co-stars were there Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Margaret Hume, John Wesley Ship, Nina Rapetta, Meredith Monroe, Kerr Smith, Mary Beth Peel, and Busy Phillips. And they reread, they read, like did a reading of the pilot episodes. So some of the people who came in later read some of the big parts on it. Um, I didn't realize this, but Busy Phillips read for Tomorrow. The teacher. Yeah. I've seen clips and she was hysterical. Oh, I bet she was so good.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my god, she was so good.

SPEAKER_00:

And and then Lynn Manuel Miranda ended up reading for um for Dawson. Because they were at the Hamilton Theater, which the director of Hamilton is Michelle Williams' husband. Right. I never knew that until this. Because I was like, yeah, so cool. No wonder they could get the Richard Rogers Theater and Lynn Manuel. Um, not that they aren't James Vanderbeek fans, but that makes sense to me. Yeah. Um and Steven Spielberg also made an appearance, which is so fun because Dawson, the character, yeah, so obsessed with Steven Spielberg. Yeah. That like for James Vanderbeek the person, then to kind of connect with him is kind of fun.

SPEAKER_01:

And then you know what's also fun is Michelle Williams in his Steven Spielberg's movie that was um like kind of autobiographical, fictional autobiography autobiographical account, Meet the Fogelmans, I think was the name of it. Okay. She was nominated for an Academy Award for playing his mom.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

I know it's just a fun little connection. And he also, Steven Spielberg, made a big social media post and donated a bunch of money to the GoFundMe. So, like, you can't like on my phone, whatever. That's yours, that's mine. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so let's talk about that GoFundMe. Let's talk about it. It doesn't have a specific person who set it up, it just says it was set up by the friends of James Vanderbeek.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I've heard people say it was his wife, but it was not his wife. It wasn't. Yeah. It's on behalf of she posted it.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. But someone else set it up. Yeah. Okay. And at the time of this recording, 2,600, uh, okay. 2.7 million almost. Just say that. Has been raised through 50.5,000 donations. So that's a lot of people. And some are big name ones like Steven Spielberg, Zoe Saldana, Derek Huff from Dancing with the Stars, and the wicked director, John 2. Those are some of the big names that have donated. I also read somewhere that before his death, Kelly Clarkson made a$70,000 donation just to their family. Yeah, just to help with costs and stuff. Um, so the GoFundMe, I got this right from the page. It says the cost of James Medical Care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds. They're working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time. And it adds that the donations will go toward essential living expenses to pay bills and support the children's education, which makes sense. So, as you know, people are looking at this, gotta freaking love TMZ. So TMZ prints this article freaking TMZ, but anyway, um, that in 2021, James and his wife Kimberly, they were hit with a lien for unpaid taxes for the 2018 and 2019 years, and basically the IRS said between the two of them and their earnings for the two years they owed$269,000. That debt is paid though. They paid that debt off in 2022. So, like nothing from the GoFundMe is gonna go to that. The lien was lifted, they were able to get a mortgage on the ranch now. Um, and some people online, you know, they're kind of offended that the family's asking for money when they have this 36-acre ranch. He actually just purchased it in January.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So because they had been renting it, they probably knew he was getting toward the end. But I mean, I get that. Like, you know, you're dying, and he had he's they said they had help from their friends. If I'm your friend and I have the money and you have this family that like I'm gonna help you buy your your ranch and like get a mortgage for it or whatever, because I want your kids to be able to stay there. Yeah, and look, there are plenty of people who, if a parent passes or something medical hits their family, they do have to sell their house, they do have to move, they do have to, and that is life. Yeah, but if there's people willing to help them not do that, then that's wonderful, and that's essentially what's happening here. But people are saying, well, if he knew he was dying, why did he buy it? And it's like, well, well either way, they'd be paying rent to stay in the same place.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think people are like, Oh, it's just the rich helping the rich. But they're friends, they're friends, and it's and I mean you just because they're helping him doesn't mean that there isn't they I mean, look at all these fundraisers he did to raise money for nonprofits.

SPEAKER_00:

Like there's a lot, I mean it's awareness, like all of it. You know what I mean? I don't know. He gave back in a lot of ways that weren't rich helping rich, right? Yeah, and there's also you know, people saying, Well, shouldn't he have money in residuals with Dawson's Creek? He gets none, yeah, no residuals, none of the cast gets any. And he had said in an article in 2012, there's no religio residual money. I was 20, it was a bad contract. I saw almost nothing from that. So essentially they were paid to do the show, but nothing for the episodes, but nothing after.

SPEAKER_01:

Like none of the in syndication, none of the resale.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it was even my husband, he's like, Oh, like, would it help if like everyone just like rewatches Douglas and Creek? No, it won't help his family.

SPEAKER_01:

The network gets money, but they don't.

SPEAKER_00:

No, they won't.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think that's I think I remember seeing an interview with Kir Smith or uh um Mitch. Who what's his name? The guy that played Mitch. John Shipley. Because they do comic cons all the time, you know, and they do get paid for that. Of course, yeah. Um, but I I remember them saying the same thing, like, yeah, there's a lot, we don't get any residual stuff. We gotta figure it out ourselves. Like, yeah. Just because you were uh at once a high-paid celebrity doesn't mean you stay a high-paid celebrity, okay? No, you gotta fight.

SPEAKER_00:

Especially if you were young. So just saying. And so he continued working after his diagnosis. He appeared in two episodes of the television show over and compensating in 2025. But it's unclear if that was enough to qualify him for health insurance from the actors' union, but again, he was already diagnosed. So even if it did, they're not gonna cover the cancer. Correct. Um, so actors can qualify for health insurance through SAG AFTRA only if they work 108 days a year or earn at least$28,090 on union shoots. Got it. So I would imagine he probably earned that in doing two episodes, but again, maybe not. Maybe not, and cancer he already had cancer when he did those shows. So even if you're in SAG AFTRA, you join every year, you might have health insurance one year, you might not the next year. You might be in a TV series and then have a year of nothing. So now you don't have insurance again, and you gotta go.

SPEAKER_01:

And also, that doesn't mean his family had insurance either. Right. And then you know, when you have private insurance for that big of a family, y'all please look it up so you understand what people are having to decide between.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you can even look just on the the healthcare marketplace. That's what I mean. Yeah, even if you put in like the lowest income or whatever, and it shows you, I mean, it's in some cases thousands of dollars a month. A month. And then you still pay and then you still have a copay or whatever, it really only helps in something catastrophic or like a terminally ill. Um it's it's well, I don't know. This is my personal opinion, but it's not even really worth it for like wealthcare and stuff because you pay so much for insurance and you still pay to go to your checkups and stuff. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

It's it's like it's also scary too, because like Katie and I were talking about this before, it's like, well, then you don't go to your annual stuff. Well, then what if something's there and then you miss that? And then by the time like you don't want to get diagnosed if you don't have health insurance, because then they won't cover it. It's like this whole mess. It's a horrible cycle, it's a horrible cycle when you have privatized health care.

SPEAKER_00:

And then if you waited a year or two, I mean time flies. Yeah. And feel like, oh, I'm just not gonna go this time because I don't have insurance, I don't have the level of insurance I want. That's another thing. Then uh next thing you know, three, four, five years go by, and yeah, it's it's scary. It is scary. So he's actually not the first high profile US actor to kind of highlight this issue. Yeah. Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannon Doherty, who died in 2024, she did not have insurance when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Yeah. So she faced some simple. And I remember that at the time. I remember just in general her struggle, but also yeah, she had financial problems too.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, again, I mean, it's yeah, we could go on and on about health insurance and we won't. I guess I guess the moral of the story is don't be so quick to judge. And if friends want to give their friends money, whoever they are, especially in a time of loss and grief.

SPEAKER_00:

And especially when there are literal children hanging in the balance, they're not funding some crazy lifestyle for the advantage of the city. Well, they weren't out there being the Kardashians, you know. No, no, and and sure, maybe they're celebrity children, but these are six children that need to be raised and safe and educated, and they're losing their father. So if there's a way that they don't have to change other stability components at least for a while, then that should be supported. And I did say, I said this to my husband, I said, I hope, and I'm guessing this is the case, that their mother that they are offline. That they are offline. Well, I saw an article see anything. Oh, I'm sure they are though. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the I don't the kids maybe not, but because they're so little, but I bet the mom is. And I saw an article, like when I was doing research, there was one and I didn't click on it because I was like, can you just not? Of course, there's tons of articles about James Vanderbeek right now, you know, because everybody's jumping on the bandwagon, which is another reason why we waited to to do this. Um, because we knew that the audience would be like peak level, like for anything related to James Vanderbeek, but that felt kind of gross to us to just hurry up and record an episode because everybody like it would click on it. I mean, he's a human being, he's not just content, like right. So, anyway, there's all these articles, and um one of them was like all about the title, I didn't click on it, it said all about uh James Vanderbeek's six children, and they were like all these pictures of kids, and I'm like, come on, gross, that's gross, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Like it's fine to say that they're there, it's fine to even like know their names and like their age range, maybe, right? Because that gives you a better understanding of the family he left behind. But other than that, we don't need to know.

SPEAKER_01:

What are you gonna say about a six-year-old? Right. He likes dinosaurs and playing in the dirt. What? I don't know. I'm just guessing. I don't know. You didn't read it. I did ask because I was like, I am not clicking on that. Not like it matters, but that's me thinking I'm making a difference. You're like, I will not click, even though five million other people will. Me not using AI and everybody else in the world using it. If it's for instance, I was on a girls' weekend trip this weekend with my best friend, and she'd be using the AI on Google search, and so I'd be like, Oh, because we were we didn't do any research before we went on this trip to a city we'd never been to, which was quite hilarious. And I was like, Oh, look, look up and see whatever. And she's like, Well, it says blah blah blah and I'm like, is that the AI answer? Because I'm not accepting it.

SPEAKER_00:

Like, find a real answer, scroll down, bitch. Did you see ghosts?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, no. So the ghost tour I went on um was more of like history. Okay, that's it. And so, and like we walked around and would stand in front of a building and they'd say stuff, or like in a square and tell us, and it was it was really interesting. It was it creepy, yes, because we were hearing a lot of stories, but it wasn't like we were in a house and we were like in dark rooms and like that kind of stuff. Plus, our guide was adorable.

SPEAKER_00:

So I did, I did get a touch.

SPEAKER_01:

I know I thought he and I was like, he was so cute, but also he had like a slight accent and he was a really good storyteller. I love that, and and so I don't know if y'all have ever been on a tour where the tour guide sucks, but it takes away the fun. But then when you have them that are really good, like we had to ask him after, we were like, Are you a performer? Are you an actor or whatever? Because and he said no, but he said he he is a writer, and he had he went to film school for script writing or something. It all made sense. I was like, ah, there it is, that's it. Because he was so good, because he he even had us. I remember we're standing in front of a building, and like the we went to Savannah, and the history there is really interesting. It's just like New Orleans, except clean. That's what I kept thinking the whole time I was there.

SPEAKER_00:

And she can say that because she's from New Orleans, yeah. I mean, I grew up like she's not just out of out of nowhere kissing New Orleans.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I mean New Orleans is is a very awesome, cool city, but and so is Savannah, but Savannah was a lot cleaner, and especially Mardi Gras Week just finished y'all in New Orleans, so it is disgusting, I'm sure, right now. Anyways, so we're standing in front of this house, and he's going to tell us most of it was like true crime stories, so you would have loved it.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, that sounds amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

And he was like, Okay, I'm gonna ask y'all for a second to just close your eyes. And he's like, Imagine that you are staying in this hotel and whatever year it was, and you're just it's two in the morning, you're sound asleep, and then you hear um, you hear loud and clear a voice saying whatever. And so our eyes are closed. Also, we had um earbuds in, so he had a mic that like directly was talking into our ear because as we were walking and stuff, so we could hear him, and so our eyes are closed and he's talking all quiet. Oh my god, it was so great, right? And then he was like, um, and then he's like, and then if you heard this and you opened your eyes and there's a woman standing at the end of your bed or sitting at the end of your bed, and we were like so creeped out. Oh my god. He was a really good storyteller, and I don't know how he remembered all that, probably because he says it 80 hundred times a day. But I didn't see any ghosts. I definitely had there was one story he told us in a square where we're like looking at an old historic home about um this woman who lived there that people said was crazy, and he like went into this whole story when what I think really was the deal was that she had postpartum depression, and he actually said that, and I was like, snaps to you for recognizing that that's probably what it was, but again, it was at the time, yeah, they thought she was just and she um I now I can't remember if it her husband, no, she like jumped out of a window or her husband pushed her or something like that, and and being in that moment was very kind of creepy. Like, I just cause I don't know if it's just because I had the similar battle, not I didn't fall out of a window, but I had postpartum stuff. So that was like weird, I didn't fall out of a window. Well, that was just weird like energy. You felt it, I felt weird, like I wanted to move on. I just was like, I don't like this, like I want to just move on, I don't like this, and I kept just sit standing there, like thinking about it. But nothing, nothing weird happened.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

That sounds really cool though. It was good, it sounds like it was really was about in history.

SPEAKER_01:

It was it was much more, and you know, there are some ghost tours that are about trust trying to scare you, and like they have you would have loved this. They have a house you can go to and be like a ghost hunter. Ooh, and it's a haunted like it's a historically haunted home, and you they like give you the equipment and then they tell you and they leave you alone for two hours in the house, and you just go around and like that's really cool, no thank you. No, we we did like a trolley tour where you like one of those hop on, hop off tours the next um the next day, or the day after that, where you just get on and he they drive you through the city and you hear about all these things and you can get off and see things. And we we asked, we had this older man who's called himself Pops. That was the trolley driver. And we asked him, like, oh, have you ever done any because he pointed out the building to us and we're like, Oh, have you ever done any ghost tours? And he said, I do not do that. And he said, Look, the way I see it is this I don't go looking for ghosts and they don't come looking for me.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, Pops. That's what we used to call my grandpa. Oh, yeah, Pops, yeah, and that is something he would have said. I mean, but like valid.

SPEAKER_01:

Don't be a moron, leave them alone, they leave you alone. Right. If you're if you're looking for trouble, you go find it. Like I said, PSA ghosts. Do not talk to me.

SPEAKER_00:

You're letting them know.

SPEAKER_01:

So even in Georgia, they knew don't be scared.

SPEAKER_00:

They listened to our podcast, that's what it was. They're like, oh, right, nope, she doesn't want to talk to us. Uh we're gonna keep on going.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh, but anyway, the guy was a really good storyteller. If y'all are in the savannah area, his name is Jovi. Jovi, okay, and he works for um the name of the company is Genteal and Bard or something like that. Okay, but they do all kinds of different like historic tours. Okay, and he was really good. So we even we even um messaged him. We found his Insta page and we were like, Thank you. You were great, like you were a really good storyteller. And he was like, Oh, thanks a lot, that means a lot. Because I don't know if people really understand that's hard to do. Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, it's a two hour tour of historical facts, and like not only do you have to be on to be good, you have to remember everything. Remember, and you're on the clock. Because I'm sure it's a very tight timeline how long you can be playing. Well, you're walking too.

SPEAKER_01:

To get, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, very cool. Awesome. Well, I'm glad you had fun. Yeah. And um didn't get too scared. And thank you all for tuning in. We will be back next week with our TGIF wrap-up. Wrap-up, yes. Uh, and please, if you're not already listening to our Dawson's Creek rewatch, re watch it with us, although none of the actors get any of the money. So if you just want to listen to our podcast, we also don't get money. We also get no money. But you can uh listen to our take on it, and we'd love to hear your thoughts. And we'll see you next time here on Generation in Between. Bye guys.

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