James Van Der Beek‘s Saturday Night Live monologue resurfaced as fans revisited his memorable hosting gig in the wake of the Dawson’s Creek actor’s death.
On February 11, Van Der Beek died at 48 following a battle with colorectal cancer. The actor who played Dawson Leery in the teen drama series revealed his cancer in November 2024 after receiving the diagnosis in August 2023.
At the height of his Dawson’s Creek fame, Van Der Beek memorably hosted SNL in 1999. “Wow, this is absolutely incredible to be hosting Saturday Night Live,” he began his monologue. However, things soon went off the rails as the actor was repeatedly interrupted by the announcer, “Don Pardo,” voiced by Darrell Hammond.
“I love you, Dawson,” the announcer declared. “You’re a beautiful young man, and I’m very proud of you.”
As Van Der Beek attempted to continue with the monologue, the voice exclaimed, “Jamesy! I brought a gift for you.” The actor opened the box to reveal a crisp pair of white underwear. “My sweet James, I hope you enjoy it.”
Van Der Beek then admitted, “Um, this is creepy.”
“You’re very, very special to me, Dawson. So clean and untainted. I’ve seen many teen idols come through this show. But you have that something extra that makes me feel, I don’t know, hot!”
“First off, my name is James, not Dawson,” he pointed out, to which the announcer passed him a note and then laid out their future plans. Creator and producer Lorne Michaels was forced to “intervene” to get “Don Pardo” to stop.
Van Der Beek ended his monologue by quickly announcing the musical guest and then going to a commercial break.
In the comments of a YouTube video of Van Der Beek’s SNL monologue, fans flooded the late actor with tributes. One fan shared, “Rest in peace, James Van Der Beek. Though you’re now gone, your legacy and contributions remain alive forever.”
Someone else wrote, “I came back to pay my respects. I never watched Dawson’s Creek, but man… only two weeks after Catherine O’Hara‘s passing. This bites.”
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Another YouTube user echoed, “Rest in peace, James! Our forever Dawson!”
A different fan commented, “We know why we’re here. Rest in power. .”
Meanwhile, yet another person wrote, “Rest in peace .”
Van Der Beek is survived by his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and their six children: Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 4.
Dawson’s Creek aired for six seasons from 1998 to 2003.
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:30/10:30c, NBC; Dawson’s Creek, streaming on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, and Disney+
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