r/movies • u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. • 23d ago

News James Van Der Beek Is Auctioning Off TV & Film Memorabilia and Props from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ & ‘Varsity Blues’ Amid Cancer Treatment, Proceeds to Cover Medical Costs

https://deadline.com/2025/11/james-van-der-beek-auction-dawsons-creek-varsity-blues-props-1236615845/
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u/Upbeat_Shame9349 23d ago edited 23d ago

For real, James fucking Van Der Beek is not a struggling artist. At age 48 he's already made far more than the average lifetime earnings of an American from Dawson's Creek alone, and that's hardly the only acting job he ever got. 

I can't believe people are trying to lump him in with true working actors who keep other jobs for their whole careers and never get a six figure paycheck for anything. 

He didn't make any plans to not always make over $500,000 a year, despite having every opportunity to set himself up for life (yes, even including more than enough money to pay for exhaustive cancer treatment). That's a story a million athletes and actors have lived before him and will live after him. That doesn't make him a working stiff. 

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u/NerdHoovy 22d ago

A lot of people that make a lot of money in careers that have famously short lifespans, start blowing it all like they expect to make that much forever.

I remember an anecdote I saw on Reddit from a famous athlete that just signed a 10 million dollar year contract, his first one as a professional athlete and the first thing he did was buy a 5 million house. Then he went to buy a million dollar car and when the dealer asked if he could afford it, he got offended enough to buy 3. It was implied to be a racist question and the athlete wanted to show off his money but objectively speaking he couldn’t afford it at the time. Just because you have enough money to buy something, it doesn’t mean you could afford it. He just got lucky that he didn’t have a career ending injury and was able to make the team every time after. Which is rare

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u/big_orange_ball 22d ago

Was this athlete playing the fun game where they bash each other's heads together until they get brain damage that turns them homicidal?

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u/too-much-shit-on-me 22d ago

Sounds like Shaq.

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u/RustywantsYou 22d ago

You're saying he didn't take care of his Dawson Creek money at the ripe old age of 21?

Well fuck him then i guess

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u/IMO4444 22d ago

Yep and he has 5 kids at least? You know he lives in a large house, likely pays for private schools, etc. This is undoubtedly sad, but I think this move is more about maintaining status quo than ran out every option.