Mia Venkat

James Van Der Beek was a high school theater kid who made it big when he was only 21.

He dropped out of college to play 15-year-old aspiring filmmaker Dawson Leary, who had a long, complicated relationship with his best friend.

Over the years, Van Der Beek acted in many projects, most notably in the films Varsity Blues and Rules of Attraction, and the TV show Don't Trust the Bee in Apartment 23.

But despite his success in Dawson's Creek, James Van Der Beek didn't land many roles that rose to that same level of fame, perhaps because the audience found it hard to separate him from that moody, earnest streamer they came to know over six seasons.

Mia Venkat, NPR News.