E! Online
Q & A With James Van Der Beek
How crazy has your life become because of Dawson's Creek?

I have to be careful walking around airports and stuff like that. And I can't go to malls. When did you know you were really famous? It's funny, everybody talks about it like you'll know. I remember in Austin, I was in a restaurant with the cast, and it got out of hand. We had to leave, and I was really weirded out by it. It's not like I sat there and said, "Oh well, I'm really famous now." Instead, I thought, My God, I have no control over this.

Any other scary "fame" moments?

There was this thing I did up in Seattle for a Warner Bros. affiliate to promote the show. I had no idea 5,000 screaming teenagers would come. I didn't know what to do. I just sat there, my hands shaking, and when they started to announce me, these kids started screaming again--for five minutes! I thought, Oh my, is this for me?

The security guards had to whisk me offstage, and they sent the limo off empty because people were swarming it. They took me out in a police car.

But obviously, there's an upside to your Dawson's Creek success.

I can't go to the mall, but I can do a picture with Jon Voight. Had I auditioned for Varsity Blues as an unknown theater actor, which is what I was before Dawson's Creek, some casting director's assistant probably would have eliminated me before I ever got a chance to show I could do it.

All this stuff is 90 percent good, 10 percent bad. But you talk about the bad 10 percent for 90 percent of the time, so you sound like this whiny, "I'm so famous, I can't..." But I'll still expound on it anyway.

How about working with Jon Voight? Did you have to turn up your acting a notch?

Absolutely! I was scared shitless. I really made sure I came prepared.

Did he give you any advice?

When I was doing the movie, all the crazy stuff was happening. He gave me some really good advice. I overanalyze everything, and I was trying to wrap my mind around why I sign autographs. Jon said, "You're given the power to make people very happy by doing something very simple. You're in a position where you can give people little gifts, and that will make them very happy." Which is really exactly what it is. It's really nothing more than that.

Have you heard any great rumors about yourself?

Yeah, but nothing I want to repeat. There have been some really funny ones.

How has fame affected your social life?

The tendency is to question motivations as to why someone's talking to you. At the same time, it's a great icebreaker.

Are you in a relationship?

[Pauses] Yeah.

Are you secretly married and going to give E! Online the exclusive?

No, I'm not secretly married.

Did you ever imagine things would turn out like this when you started the series?

I really didn't at all. When I signed on to do it, it seemed to me it would be really good for your career to be on a critically acclaimed show that nobody watched. I thought that was what I was signing on to.

Like My So-Called Life?

Exactly! I've worked with Claire [Danes], and that seemed to be a good place to be. I had seen Scream, but I didn't know Kevin Williamson had written it until I met him. I really liked the [Dawson's Creek] script, and I talked to him on the phone and really liked him. We met while I was testing for it, and to me he was, like, the nice guy at the audition. I didn't realize what a huge phenomenon he was.

When did you realize how big he was?

Not until much later. People were telling us when we were doing the pilot, "Oh, this is definitely going to get picked up." I was like, "We'll see." When we got picked up, they said "The WB is going to do a huge market push. They're definitely behind the show."

I'd heard that stuff before when I'd done Angus. They said, "This is going to be huge. This will make you a star." They had me believing this was going to be the Second Coming. And the movie bombed. And, as far as fan adulation, I didn't expect any of it. Saying it now, it sounds a little strange, but I really didn't expect it.

Are they planning any big events, like Dawson losing his virginity?

I can guarantee you it will probably happen during the sweeps. [Laughing] That's about all I know.

Would you like Dawson to get together with Katie Holmes' character?

If they can make it interesting--as interesting as it is when we're not together, sure. I think the audience wants it, but I think the audience also doesn't want it. I think they just want the anticipation of watching them get together.

When you get up and look in the mirror at the morning shadow, how do you suddenly become 16 again?

I shave.

What were you like as a kid? Were you shy?

I was a very odd kid. I was always in here. [Points to his head] I played sports and did theater. I did Grease--I played Danny Zuko.

Were you popular in high school?

I played football and I sang. It wasn't quite a match made in heaven.

So, you didn't fit in?

Well, who really fits in middle school and high school? I was never, like, the popular kid. That's why I laugh, because Dawson's Creek has all these female fans, and I was, like, a dork in high school and nobody had a crush on me.

What important lesson have you learned about fame? Just to chill out?

Chill out? Yeah. Basically it forces you to figure out who you are and stick to that.

Do you like what you found out?

Yeah, fortunately. It forces you to do away with any delusions you might have about who you are. Because that's all you have to hold on to. You can't base anything, or any part of self-esteem, or any part of you, on how people perceive you. That's what you learn right away in the business, I think. To really look inward and try not to care what people are printing or saying. You do whatever you can to create a situation where you're not limited to the kind of parts people will give you. That's why I did this.

What's your ideal project?

Next movie, I'd like to play another character that's nowhere near the ones I've played.

What do you mean? Like a killer?

Yeah, absolutely! The first role I did, I played an asshole jock. The second, I was this neo-Nazi slimeball. I finished an independent film just before the first season of Dawson's Creek, and I played a preppy pothead.

Was there any pressure to do horror movies like your colleagues?

I was offered enough of them, I'll tell you that.

Did you consciously make a decision not to do them?

Yeah, pretty much. I mean, had it been a Kevin Williamson movie, I probably would have done it. I was offered a bunch of horror movies, and I've read a bunch, but I didn't really like any of them.

Have you ever stood up to authority?

Absolutely! I remember a horrific director I had when I was 17. I ended standing up to him. Fortunately, I'd had an incredible experience with [playwright] Edward Albee right before that, and it was a defining moment for me as an actor.

What happened with this director?

He tried to destroy me just to make himself feel big, and he was absolutely wrong. Once I got a handle on the situation, I just stopped letting it affect me. I just did what I had to do.

Have you had any more dealings with him?

We haven't talked. Although it does my heart good to think of him riding the subway and looking across the street at billboards of me.