S28: James Van Der Beek: Dawson Does Dancing

[OnceSane]

Quote

James Van Der Beek is a writer, actor and producer who launched his acting career on the New York stage at age 16 to rave reviews in an original work by Edward Albee. He made his big-screen debut the following year in the movie Angus, but is perhaps best known for starring in the hit films Varsity Blues, the cult classic The Rules of Attraction and as the title character in the series Dawson's Creek, which ran for six seasons and continues to syndicate around the globe. Most recently, Van Der Beek co-created, wrote, show-ran and starred in Vice's first scripted series, What Would Diplo Do?, which scored over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. He portrayed Matt Bromley in the FX original series Pose from Ryan Murphy, which debuted to critical and commercial acclaim and was nominated for a Golden Globe®, Critics Choice and Gotham Awards, and won a GLAAD Award, AFI Award and a Peabody.  Van Der Beek's other television credits include HBO's series Room 104, created by Jay and Mark Duplass; Don't Trust the B**** in Apartment 23, Friends with Better Lives, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, among many others. He is also the voice of Boris on Disney Junior's hit animated series Vampirina. Van Der Beek has done a variety of work on the big screen, including the cult classic Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Backwards, Formosa Betrayed, Jason Reitman's Labor Day and Alexander Payne's Downsizing.

Dancing with Emma Slater.

[kitcloudkicker]

Spoiler

According to KB, flip Peta & Emma’s partners: 

https://www.dancedishwithkb.com/post/your-burning-dancing-with-the-stars-questions-answered

[mtlchick]

I was never a Dawson's Creek person, but I like him as a person.  He's the only reason I'm actually watching this season.  I now wait for the Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 shout outs where he "competed" on DWTS against his nemesis, Dean Cain. 

[absnow54]

I spent nearly 20 years actively disliking him because he seemed like a total douche during his Dawson days. Don’t Trust the B and James van der Memes really turned me around on him though. He was so good last night too! I figured he’d be out pretty early, because his nostalgic fan base would be split with Kel Mitchell, but I think he could go far!

[irisheyes]

If you ever want to see him play against his Dawson typecast, watch his two Criminal Minds episodes. I’m STILL freaked out by them. He was phenomenal (in a completely whacked out, terrifying way)

[ClareWalks]

I'm calling it now, this dude's winning the whole shebang.

[Annber03]

15 hours ago, irisheyes said:

If you ever want to see him play against his Dawson typecast, watch his two Criminal Minds episodes. I’m STILL freaked out by them. He was phenomenal (in a completely whacked out, terrifying way)

YES. It's so weird to see him in that setting. He's not considered one of the show's more memorable guest stars for nothing!

[boyznkatz]

Has he danced before? He said something about having a theater background. I never heard anything about him being a ringer before the show, so I was surprised by how good he was.

[Lady Calypso]

18 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

Has he danced before? He said something about having a theater background. I never heard anything about him being a ringer before the show, so I was surprised by how good he was.

I did look up James' history. It seems like his mom was a former dancer, so he may have inherited some of her dance ability. But it also doesn't mean that he did any dance himself. As far as I can see, the most dancing he would have done is some minor dancing while performing in theatre performances, if there was any. 

ETA: LOL, I found this article from 2012, right around the time he filmed his faux DWTS stuff for Don't Trust the B.

Quote

And although he had a “blast” filming the faux “DWTS” experience and actually had to learn to dance, he told the magazine he doesn’t think he’ll use his new skills on the real show.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Lady Calypso

[marketdoctor]

I know he had an awful week.  Knowing that fans believe in him, and want nothing more than to thank him for what he's shared for us, might matter.  Knowing that other people have been through a miscarriage with their spouse, and in time, managed to find meaning in other ways, only helps a little.  It's not a cure, but it's something.

[alexa]

I am really missing James not being in this finale...

[mtlchick]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:24 PM, ClareWalks said:

I'm calling it now, this dude's winning the whole shebang.

(sighs)  in an alternate time line, he would have.  If they ever decide to do an all stars edition, he's a lock to return. 

[scenicbyway]

A year later James on his Instagram is still trying to process not making the finals or winning DWTS.  When his family moved to Texas recently he listed his loss on DWTS (according to him heavily favored to win) as a reason to leave L.A. 

I think he could use some therapy. It’s just a game show. Was he banking on tour money? Was his pride heavily wounded? I get that it was upsetting the way he left and they literally lost a pregnancy at the same time (wasn’t his wife still in the hospital the night of the semis?) But if he’s still this hurt by it a year later, it’s probably time to talk to someone vs just moving to the country.  Surely he had lost out on other roles before?

[realdancemom]

1 hour ago, scenicbyway said:

A year later James on his Instagram is still trying to process not making the finals or winning DWTS.  When his family moved to Texas recently he listed his loss on DWTS (according to him heavily favored to win) as a reason to leave L.A. 

I think he could use some therapy. It’s just a game show. Was he banking on tour money? Was his pride heavily wounded? I get that it was upsetting the way he left and they literally lost a pregnancy at the same time (wasn’t his wife still in the hospital the night of the semis?) But if he’s still this hurt by it a year later, it’s probably time to talk to someone vs just moving to the country.  Surely he had lost out on other roles before?

I believe his wife lost another baby after the one that was lost last year.  I do think he needs therapy.  He's probably thinking of lost all together which includes two miscarriages and DWTS,.  It doesn't help that he's probably not working because of Covid-19.

[boyznkatz]

He definitely has issues. If I had five kids and two miscarriages after that, I would call it a day. It’s his choice and his business to keep trying, but hey, if you put your life out there on social media people are going to judge.

I must say though, as someone who lives in California, I don’t blame him fir moving to Texas!

[kitcloudkicker]

On 11/18/2020 at 11:43 AM, scenicbyway said:

A year later James on his Instagram is still trying to process not making the finals or winning DWTS.  When his family moved to Texas recently he listed his loss on DWTS (according to him heavily favored to win) as a reason to leave L.A. 

I think he could use some therapy. It’s just a game show. Was he banking on tour money? Was his pride heavily wounded? I get that it was upsetting the way he left and they literally lost a pregnancy at the same time (wasn’t his wife still in the hospital the night of the semis?) But if he’s still this hurt by it a year later, it’s probably time to talk to someone vs just moving to the country.  Surely he had lost out on other roles before?

I am not a therapist at all but it seems likely that the pregnancy loss feelings (and as I understand it, his wife was in pretty big danger as well) and the DWTS loss feelings got all tangled in each other, considering the way it went down. He could be transferring some emotions. Hopefully he has someone he can work through things with. 
 
I do agree with him they didn’t handle it the best though, the making him do his first dance and then judging him without mentioning the loss, as if they didn’t know? I mean, you can only judge the dance you’re presented with, but a nod to how he was doing would have probably gone a long way there. 

[RealHousewife]

On 11/18/2020 at 4:03 PM, boyznkatz said:

He definitely has issues. If I had five kids and two miscarriages after that, I would call it a day. It’s his choice and his business to keep trying, but hey, if you put your life out there on social media people are going to judge.

I must say though, as someone who lives in California, I don’t blame him fir moving to Texas!

 

On 11/18/2020 at 1:43 PM, scenicbyway said:

A year later James on his Instagram is still trying to process not making the finals or winning DWTS.  When his family moved to Texas recently he listed his loss on DWTS (according to him heavily favored to win) as a reason to leave L.A. 

I think he could use some therapy. It’s just a game show. Was he banking on tour money? Was his pride heavily wounded? I get that it was upsetting the way he left and they literally lost a pregnancy at the same time (wasn’t his wife still in the hospital the night of the semis?) But if he’s still this hurt by it a year later, it’s probably time to talk to someone vs just moving to the country.  Surely he had lost out on other roles before?

I like James from what I know of him. I get that no one wants to lose and that a miscarriage is incredibly painful. But I agree with these posts. DWTS is a dance contest made to be entertaining, not that serious. I don't know if there's something we're missing or he's a glass half empty kind of person. He's a good-looking guy who enjoyed a successful acting career, is married to a beautiful wife and has five adorable kids. I wish him continued success in the entertainment industry if that's what he wants. I hope he realizes how many people would do anything to trade places with someone like him though. You're not always going to get everything you want in life. That doesn't mean you're not an incredibly fortunate.