James Van Der Beek became a household name after landing the title role of Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek in 1998.
The American teen drama ran for six seasons before James furthered his career in a variety of television and film productions including CSI: Cyber, Power Rangers and Jay and Silent Bob. In more unusual circumstances, meanwhile, the actor was cast in 2001 drama movie Storytelling, only to be given the chop from its final cut.
Written and directed by Todd Solondz, the unique film stars Selma Blair and Leo Fitzpatrick and tells two unrelated stories with different actors, titled Fiction and Non-Fiction. Not listed in its credits, however, is Van Der Beek, who – along with his explicit gay sex scene – was removed altogether.
READ MORE: Dawson’s Creek cast now – heartbreak, kicked out of high school and boyfriend tragedy
READ MORE:Dawson’s Creek’s James Van Der Beek and wife welcome 6th baby after tragic miscarriages
Now, as Van Der Beek celebrates his 47th birthday on Friday (March 8), we look back at what might have been one of the highlights of the Hollywood star’s career – had it ever seen the light of day.
(Image: Getty Images for Planet Hollywoo)
According to iMDB, the flick orginally included a third section, Autobiography. It included Van Der Beek’s unnamed closeted football player, who embarked on a passionate romp with a male partner played by Steven Rosen. The five minute segment was removed completely following its showing at the Cannes Film Festival, duly replaced with an entirely different piece of action of the same length.
Explaining his decision, Solondz admitted to Entertainment Weekly: “You write the script and think it’s about X, you shoot it and you think it’s about Y, and then you go into the editing room and it turns into Z. It happens to me with every movie.”
(Image: ABC)
Blair, meanwhile, who was famously one half a same-sex snog in Cruel Intentions with Sarah Michelle Gellar, later added that the cast hadn’t been made aware of the possibility of significant editing work. “I think Todd [Solondz] just hangs the moon, but we had no idea,” she said.
She continued: “I had a much bigger part, people had amazing performances cut completely: Van Der Beek. Emmanuelle Chriqui. Adam Hann-Byrd. It must have been heartbreaking to cast them aside.”
(Image: James Van Der Beek/Instagram)
Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly welcomed their sixth child together in 2021, meanwhile, after suffering two tragic miscarriages. The family moved to Austin that year after their back-to-back miscarriages at 17 and a half weeks in June 2020, less than a year after losing another boy 17 weeks into pregnancy in November 2019.
The couple now support the American Red Cross to raise awareness and encourage blood donations after Kimberly admitted without a blood transfusion, “I probably would not be here.” Speaking to PEOPLE she said: “My life was on the line, what saved my life was blood transfusions, people who donated blood. Without them, I probably would not be here.”
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
