James Van Der Beek Just Had a Very Uncomfortable TV Interview
Can you get awards for surviving painfully awkward interviews? If so, James Van Der Beek deserves one for getting through a cringeworthy few minutes while appearing on the British show This Morning.
Co-hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby set themselves up for an odd sit-down when they introduced their upcoming guest by rattling off achievements made by Van Der Beek’s former Dawson’s Creek co-stars. They talk about Katie Holmes as a “lead Hollywood actress” who married Tom Cruise, note that Michelle Williams has had four Oscar nominations, and how Joshua Jackson stars in the Golden Globe-winning drama The Affair.
“But what happened to the main man himself, Mr. James Van Der Beek?” Schofield asks. “He’s here now, and that’s what he looks like.”
The camera cuts to a perplexed James Van Der Beek sitting in the studio. His face is shown on a split screen next to a photo from the Creek days.
“I have been on television the last 20 years, just to let you know,” the actor quips.
“We know that, but it worked better as a link,” Schofield laughs. “You have been very busy! When we were looking back at the information on Dawson’s Creek, I mean, you played a 15-year-old, but you were 20, weren’t you?”
Clearly puzzled at the question and where the conversation was going, Van Der Beek replies, “From what I remember. It was a long time ago, yeah.”
The anchors stay on the Dawson’s Creek topic — even calling the segment “The Beek From the Creek Is Back” — and the actor, who played Dawson Leery on the teen drama, is clearly uncomfortable. However, it didn’t stop the always professional Van Der Beek from attempting to get things back on track after the uncomfortable intro.
“It changed my life, it was a huge opportunity,” he says of the show. “I learned how to be on camera, how to deal with celebrity, how to deal with all kinds of things. It was a huge break. I wouldn’t change anything I just, [laughs] … they were, like, playing the music backstage … I was like, ‘What year is it?’”
“We’re all very excited about it. Dawson’s Creek was a big part of my childhood,” Willoughby enthusiastically interjects.
“OK,” Van Der Beek smiles, clearly still miffed. The co-hosts then joke that they just had to get all the Dawson’s Creek stuff out of the way because it’s his first visit.
“When you come on again we won’t do all this stuff because we’ve done it,” Schofield says.
“Fair enough,” Van Der Beek (fake?) laughs.
When the conversation finally turns to Van Der Beek’s new series, Sky 1’s Carters Get Rich, which is what he was there to promote, the tension seems to subside. For the next two minutes, the trio banters back and forth about the TV show, filming in the U.K., and it all ends on a friendly note.
Still, we have a feeling “The Beek From the Creek” won’t be back on that sofa anytime soon. Watch the full interview below.
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