‘Dawson’s Creek’ stars rallied around James Van Der Beek during ‘truly terrible’ time: ‘We need to do something’

Joshua Jackson is reflecting on his Dawson’s Creek family.

The actor behind Pacey Witter discussed the lifelong friendships that formed on the WB teen drama in a conversation with Jesse Tyler Ferguson on his Dinner’s on Me podcast. “It forges you,” Jackson said of shooting to success at a young age with his costars. 

The Fringe actor said that his Dawson’s costars — including Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, and Busy Philipps — have rallied around James Van Der Beek in the wake of his colorectal cancer diagnosis.

“James is going through something really truly terrible right now,” Jackson said. “And I wish I could take credit for this, but I was kind of the absentee partner here, but the girls all got together and were like, ‘We need to do something to help this guy out.'”

Jackson detailed the particular relationships that have remained strong since the show’s conclusion in 2003.

“Whether we talk to each other all the time, Busy and Michelle are very, very close. And Katie and I are very close,” he said. “It’s not a daily call, sometimes it’s not a weekly or monthly or even a half-yearly call. But when you’re together, there’s always that.”

The actor suggested that aside from a spouse, there’s no stronger bond in an actor’s life than their costars from their breakthrough TV show. “There is, you know, these major moments in life — other than your husband, there’s probably no other people in your life that you are that forged to,” Jackson said. “‘Cause you had to go through good and bad and happy and ‘F— you’ and ‘Don’t talk to me’ and ‘I love you.'”

Van Der Beek first announced his diagnosis in November 2024, and later revealed that his timeline for sharing the news with PEOPLE was moved up after learning that a tabloid was going to break the story.

Williams recently told ET that she has “absolutely” been in contact with Van Der Beek in the midst of his medical journey. “We’re in contact, and he’s in our hearts and our minds, and he knows that,” she said. “And we’re here for him in every and all ways.”

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Listen to the full conversation between Jackson and Ferguson above.