Teen Tribute, by Kerry Doole
December 1998
Cover Story: James Van Der Beek Calls Time Out to talk to Teen Tribute
One comment made by James Van Der Beek during his recent interview with Teen Tribute proved that the fast-rising young star still has his feet on the ground. This past summer, Van Der Beek was in Austin, Texas, shooting Varsity Blues, a comedy about high school football. The film, scheduled for release in January, is James' highest-profile movie role to date. About his time on the film shoot, he says, "I didn't meet any Hollywood types in Austin, and that was great.
I really liked the attitude there." But he may have to just get used to attitude. Via his lead role in smash hit teen soap Dawson's Creek, James, 21, has quickly become one of the hottest young men on television.
Funnily enough, considering his Varsity role, it was an accident on the football field that first led James to acting.
At age 13, a bang to his head caused a mild concussion and he decided to look at a less-dangerous pursuit. Told to keep away from football for a year, James auditioned for, and got, the lead role in the musical Grease. He was quickly hooked on the stage, and joined the community theatre group in his Cheshire, Connecticut, home town.
So was he a jock or an arty type in high school? "I tried to keep a foot in both camps, so I guess I was split right down the middle," he says.
The acting itch wouldn't go away, and James soon found himself commuting to New York City, hunting down roles. "I'd travel three hours each way for rehearsals and auditions. It was tough and could be very disheartening."
Van Der Beek's talent shone through, however. His professional acting debut came at the age of 16 in the off-Broadway production of Finding the Sun, written and directed by top playwright Edward Albee.
Small movie roles gradually came his way. He was in the comedy Angus, starring George C. Scott and Kathy Bates, and I Love You, I Love You Not, with Jeanne Moreau and Claire Danes. So what was it like working with such major stars?
"Well, actually, I never got to do any scenes directly with them," he admits.
On Varsity Blues, however, James got to work closely with Oscar-winning acting legend Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy, The Rainmaker). "He was just so helpful, so generous, and I learned a huge amount," says James of his costar. "That was the highlight of the film for me."
Voight plays the high school football coach, while James plays second-string quarterback John Moxon, who has a rather irreverent approach to the sport.
James still has the look and physique of a quarterback, and he loved getting back into the sport he grew up playing. "I cut my hair short and dyed it black, and I put on all this muscle. I insisted on wearing No. 4 on my uniform as a tribute to my favourite quarterback, Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers.
James also recently filmed an independent movie Harvest, playing a totally different character -- " ...a pothead. I shot that even before Dawson's Creek, but I don't know when it's coming out."
It is, of course, his role as aspiring filmmaker Dawson Leery in Dawson's Creek that has catapulted James into the limelight. "I just try my best to keep up," he says of his rocket ride to prominence.
How close does he feel to the Dawson character? "He reminds me of myself at a younger age," James says, "but I like to think I'm further along the road to maturity now. We were both very impassioned at that age. Dawson is prone to rejecting reality for a more romantic scenario," James admits.
Now that he is a hot young star, does James feel a responsibility to act as a positive role model for his teenage fans? "I don't really think about that, but I don't make a habit of misbehaving in public. Also, I wouldn't want to do anything that reflected badly on the show."
He admits the success of Dawson's Creek wasn't something he took for granted. "We were never sure about how it would do commercially. I thought it might be one of those cult shows that nobody watches!"
The show's shooting schedule is definitely hard work -- "12 to 14 hours per day, five days a week." But James is full of praise for series creator Kevin Williamson, the man behind the hit movies Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. "He gives us everything we need to do our jobs."
The recent hectic work pace means he hasn't really settled in one place.
"I have a North Carolina drivers license right now. If I had to choose between living in Los Angeles and New York, it'd definitely be New York. I've never had my own place there, always just sleeping on friends' floors."
At least he'll be able to afford the exorbitant rents there now!
