Footage of the event, which was held at New York’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, shows the actor ― who went public with his colorectal cancer diagnosis last year ― thanking attendees for their support while expressing regrets for his absence.
“I have been looking forward to this night for months and months ever since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together. I can’t believe I’m not there,” he said. “I can’t believe I don’t get to see my cast mates, my beautiful cast in person.”
“I want to stand on that stage and thank every single person in the theater for being here tonight,” he continued. “From the cast to the crew to everybody who’s doing anything and has been so generous, and especially every single last one of you — you are the best fans in the world.”
Watch an “Entertainment Tonight” report on James Van Der Beek’s appearance below.
Van Der Beek went on to introduce Lin-Manuel Miranda, who had stepped in as his last-minute replacement for the event.
“On ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ I had no understudy, but this is Broadway, and I needed one. So we figured we’d try to find somebody who had never understudied in this theater before,” he quipped, alluding to Miranda’s performance in the smash musical “Hamilton,” which has been playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre since 2015.
Plans for a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion were first confirmed last month. The event featured a live table reading of the teen drama series’ pilot episode, and was to mark Van Der Beek’s first public appearance with co-stars Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Williams since the show wrapped its six-season run in 2003.
On Sunday, however, Van Der Beek announced he was backing out after “two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment.”
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“Despite every effort… I won’t get to be there,” he wrote on Instagram. “I won’t get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most.”
Though Van Der Beek, 48, has maintained a lower profile since announcing his diagnosis, the actor recently had a well-received guest role in “Overcompensating,” starring Benito Skinner. Earlier this month, Amazon Prime Video announced that the comedy series, which is based on Skinner’s real-life college experience, had been renewed for a second season.
