Rules of Attraction director, Roger Avary, is sharing details of his last phone call with James Van Der Beek.
James and Roger, who met at the set of the 2002 film, revealed that he cried during the last conversation he had with the Dawson's Creek alum, who had always "showed strength and wonder” even when facing death.
Roger told People, “I was blessed to be able to speak with James one last time before he faced eternity, on a phone call we had before he was admitted to the hospital."
He revealed that their talk was majorly “philosophical in nature” as they discussed their "love for each other.”
“In our final conversation, movies no longer mattered when cast against the deeper tapestry and mysteries of Life and the eternal beyond,” Avary continued. “But in similar fashion James said to me ‘forget the show, Life must go on.’ We cried, or maybe it was just me who cried. But he was always an unwavering force of positivity, and a pillar of strength for those around him, and even then, facing death, he showed strength and wonder.”
Recalling their time on the set of Rules of Attraction, Roger shared, "It was a highly ecstatic filming experience, and everyone involved at every level of the crew was there 100%, almost like group therapy. We all experienced the horror of 9/11 together, and continued shooting the film, allowing the experience to alter the written ending of the movie, changing it from a theme of manifest destiny to one of personal choice. That was because of James, and his insistence that ‘the show must go on.’”
Roger shared one key message of James that has stayed with him that "we are all worthy of Love."
For those unversed, James Vander Beeks passed on February 11, after battling colon cancer. He was 48.