James Van Der Beek will not be in attendance at the Dawson’s Creek reunion charity event despite being eagerly looking forward to it.
Just one day before the one-night-only charity event on Monday, September 22, the 48-year-old American actor shared an Instagram post over the weekend to inform his fans that he will not attend the event, citing health struggles amid his cancer diagnosis.
In the social media post shared on Sunday, September 21, he revealed developing two different stomach viruses, but assured fans that he would have an "understudy."
"This is the evening I’d been looking forward to MOST since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together, way back in January," the actor, who plays Dawson Leery on the WB's drama, began his lengthy Instagram message. "So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment."
He playfully teased that he will have a "ridiculously overqualified replacement" at the event. "Someone my kids would definitely consider an upgrade over me…." Vans Der Beek quipped, before announcing that Lin-Manuel Miranda will read the part of Dawson.
The cast of the beloved drama series, including Busy Philipps, John Wesley Shipp, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes, Kerr Smith, Mary Beth Peil, Mary‑Margaret Humes, Meredith Monroe, Michelle Williams and Nina Repetas are set to reunite at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City for a live reading of the show's pilot episode to benefit F Cancer and Van Der Beek, who was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer last year.
