"James Van Der Week" Rehabilitates Actor's Post-Dawson's Creek Image

Apparently JamesVanDerMemes.com was just the beginning of an entire week of new James Van Der Beek viral content. It’s all part of The Beek’s long-overdue campaign to convince us he isn’t bitter about Crying Dawson.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Van Der Beek explains how this week-long extravaganza came to be:

I’d been poking around [Funny or Die], laughing at all the stuff, and I wanted to join in. One of the writers there tentatively said, ‘I don’t know if you know this, but there’s a five-second GIF of you crying?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I’m well aware of it.’

Van Der Beek says he’s “so detached from Dawson” that he just laughs at the infamous Crying Dawson gif, which he spoofed earlier this week. His latest video “Asshole for Hire” was inspired by the real-life fallout from playing Dawson Leery:

People I met…especially guys, were always saying that. We’d be having a beer or something, and after the third beer, they’d say [in a drunk voice] ‘You know, I gotta say, man, you’re a cool guy, but before I met you, I f-ing hated you! Because my girlfriend loved you!’

As for the ad for “DILF Khakis,” he Tweets, “My daughter made me a dad… and I’ve used that title to make her proud… or not.”

Today Van Der Beek shared the "grand finale": A behind-the-scenes video:

After watching the trio of videos, we do find James Van Der Beek more appealing than we have in 13 years. It was an impressive effort, but sadly, just like back in the ’90s, we’re more charmed by Pacey-Con.

James Van Der Beek: I Was Well Aware Of ‘Crying Dawson’ [Entertainment Weekly]
@vanderjames [Twitter]

Earlier: JamesVanDerMemes Offers Gifs For Every Occasion
You Don’t Wanna Wait To Watch This Pacey-Con Video