Playing the main character, Van Der Beek was based on the show’s creator Kevin Williamson’s experiences growing up.
The actor went on to feature in the series with Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams for six seasons.
But the show long surpassed its 90s-2000s popularity when Van Der Beek’s crying face after being dumped by Holmes’ Joey character became the meme of two decades.In the years after his break, the actor showed up in projects such as The Rules of Attraction, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, and more.
Fans even got to see him in another teen show, where he played a filmmaker in One Tree Hill.
More recently, Van Der Beek featured in CSI: Cyber, and also in voice work, having lent his acting to 69 episodes of the animated Vampirina show.
He was even griffin in The Masked Singer last year, and was in two episodes of Overcompensating.
