{"id":7519,"date":"2026-07-01T18:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/how-elle-paid-tribute-to-james-van-der-beek-for-his-final-role\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T18:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:31:09","slug":"how-elle-paid-tribute-to-james-van-der-beek-for-his-final-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/how-elle-paid-tribute-to-james-van-der-beek-for-his-final-role\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Elle\u2019 paid tribute to James Van Der Beek for his final role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F07%2FUntitled-2-copy.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>James Van Der Beek\u2019s final role is his posthumous appearance in <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/29\/entertainment\/legally-blonde-prequel-series-elle-is-shockingly-not-bad-review\/\">\u201cElle,\u201d Prime Video\u2019s \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d prequel <\/a>series.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The show pays tribute to the \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d actor, <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/11\/celebrity-news\/james-van-der-beek-dead-at-48-after-colorectal-cancer-battle\/\">who died at 48 in February<\/a>, following a battle with colorectal cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His character, Dean Wilson, first appears in the third episode of \u201cElle.\u201d At the end of that episode, before the credits roll, a title card onscreen says, \u201cIn loving memory of James Van Der Beek.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A title card onscreen in the third episode of \u201cElle\u201d pays tribute to James Van Der Beek.  <span class=\"credit\">Amazon Prime<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Van Der Beek (pictured in in \u201cElle\u201d) is in the show posthumously, as his final role.  <span class=\"credit\">Prime Video via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Now streaming on Prime Video, \u201cElle\u201d is a \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d prequel series following Reese Witherspoon\u2019s iconic character from the movies during her high school years. Witherspoon produces it but isn\u2019t in it; Elle Woods is played by Lexi Minetree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Dean Wilson is a local mayoral candidate who befriends Elle\u2019s mom, Eva (June Diane Raphael).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElle\u201d actor Jacob Moskovitz told The Post, \u201cWe didn\u2019t have a ton of overlap, but he sat and ate lunch with us and talked with us. And he was just an absolute light on our set, and we miss him very much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cWe\u2019re really honored that he was a part of the show.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Van Der Beek (pictured in 2019) died of cancer at 48 in February.  <span class=\"credit\">ABC via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Van Der Beek left behind wife Kimberly and six kids (pictured in April of 2022).  <span class=\"credit\">vanderjames\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Raphael <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/1272647\/elle-james-van-der-beek-final-role-june-diane-raphael-memories\/\">told TV Insider<\/a> that she recalled Van Der Beek, \u201ctalking about his family all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cGrace and Frankie\u201d actress added, \u201cAnytime there was a downbeat on the set, he would share stories about his kids and how amazing they are and what they were going through, and I could just tell the kind of dad he was and also the kind of husband he was.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She noted that when he talked about his wife, Kimberly, who he married in 2010, \u201cYou could tell they were so deeply in love still.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Van Der Beek (pictured in \u201cElle\u201d with June Diane Raphael) was a \u201clight\u201d on set, his co-stars said.  <span class=\"credit\">Prime Video via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Van Der Beek (pictured on \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d with Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, and Katie Holmes) battled cancer since 2023.   <span class=\"credit\">Columbia Tristar\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The \u201cVarsity Blue\u201d actor had been <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2024\/11\/03\/celebrity-news\/james-van-der-beek-diagnosed-with-colorectal-cancer\/\">battling stage 3 cancer<\/a> since August 2023.<\/p>\n<p>He shared six children with his wife, Kimberly: Olivia, 14; Joshua, 13; Annabel, 12; Emilia, 8; Gwendolyn, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.<\/p>\n<p>Before his death, Van Der Beek confessed that cancer treatment had put a financial strain on his family. He sold <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/GMA\/Culture\/james-van-der-beek-auctioning-off-dawsons-creek\/story?id=127445558\">memorabilia from \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d<\/a> and \u201cVarsity Blues\u201d to help fund his medical expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cElle\u201d starring Lexi Minetree (pictured) is a \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d prequel series.  <span class=\"credit\">Jessica Brooks\/Prime<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cElle\u201d actors recall Van Der Beek (pictured with wife Kimberly in an undated Instagram photo) talking about his wife and kids.  <span class=\"credit\">vanderkimberly\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After his death in February, the actor\u2019s friends created<a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/12\/celebrity-news\/james-van-der-beeks-familys-gofundme-reaches-1-million-after-his-death\/\"> a GoFundMe page for his family<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To date, it raised over $2 million. Celebrity donors included Zoe Salda\u00f1a, Derek Hough, Ricki Lake, and Kaley Cuoco.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElle\u201d is now streaming on Prime Video.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/07\/01\/entertainment\/how-elle-paid-tribute-to-james-van-der-beek-for-his-final-role\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Van Der Beek\u2019s final role is his posthumous appearance in \u201cElle,\u201d Prime Video\u2019s \u201cLegally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-2-copy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}