The highly anticipated reunion of the cast of Dawson's Creek will go ahead without Dawson himself. James Van Der Beek, who played the brooding teen heartthrob, has bowed out of Monday's event due to back-to-back stomach bugs, which come on top of his battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer, per People. The actor, 48, took to Instagram to explain why he would be a no-show at the event he's been most looking forward to this year, which is a live reading of the pilot. "Despite every effort… I won't get to be there. 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," he said.
Despite being "gutted" to be "grounded at the worst possible moment," Van Der Beek injected some humor into his announcement, revealing he'll have a "ridiculously overqualified replacement" for the live pilot reading: Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Hamilton creator is not only stepping in as Dawson for the night, but is apparently a hero at the Van Der Beek residence—much appreciated for the soundtrack he wrote for Disney's 2016 hit Moana.
The reunion brings together the rest of the original cast from the series that ran from 1998 to 2003—including Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and Busy Philipps—in support of F Cancer, and Van Der Beek himself. His wife Kimberly and their children will be in the audience, as per his wishes. "Everyone please enjoy all the love in that room. Shine some on my family," wrote Van Der Beek, who first disclosed his cancer diagnosis last November, per NBC News. "I will be beaming and receiving from afar in a bed in Austin."
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