With the exception of the most important election of our lifetime, this has been the slowest news week ever. When the casting of Jack Black in an adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels makes headlines, you know we’re close to the bottom of the barrel. So! Why don’t we use this as an opportunity to check in with the kids from Dawson’s Creek? In case you haven’t noticed, this has been a banner Fall for the former residents of Capeside! Joshua Jackson is smirking his way through the successful Fringe, and seems to be on his way to a fairly excellent procedural television career. Katie Holmes has that whole Scientology/alien baby/Tom Cruise thing going on, but she managed to take time out of all that insanity to guest star on Eli Stone (aside: do you know anyone who actually watches that show?) and also star on Broadway in the revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. She even got a haircut! The biggest talent of the group, Michelle Williams, is well on her way to an outstanding film career; in addition to co-starring in Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, she headlines Wendy and Lucy, a stark indie drama that could possibly land her an Oscar nom. And then there’s James Van Der Beek. He’s just signed on to co-star in the Fox television pilot Eva Adams, an hour-long drama about a sexist sports agent who turns into a beautiful woman after a witch puts him under a spell. (We are not making that up!)
Which of those careers isn’t going well?
If you guessed Mr. Van Der Beek, you’re right! It’s not like he was ever that great as the navel gazing Dawson, but doesn’t Mr. Van Der Beek deserve a little better? We always loved his work in Varsity Blues, a modern day classic of the TNT variety, and he was goofily charming as "himself" in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. We could go on for hours about Rules of Attraction, too! However since then, the Mt. Rushmore-headed star been relegated to guest appearances on shows like Criminal Minds and Ugly Betty. And now, while the rest of his co-stars have found fame and fortune, he’s left signing on as the second or third lead in some ridiculous gender swap comedy that would have felt dated in 1989. Come on. There are witches involved in that pitch! Can you imagine what it’s going to be like for him at the Dawson’s Creek ten year reunion?
"Soooooo, James. What have you been up to?"
