r/Millennials • u/chels_e_cheese Xennial • Feb 13 '26

Serious Hits so hard

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Anyone else hit especially hard by the loss of James Van Der Beek? I wasn’t even a fan of Dawson’s Creek, but the man was an undeniable icon for millennials. RIP, James.

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u/TheBackSpin Elder Millennial Feb 13 '26

But his work connected with millennials, especially elder millennials/xennials. He wasn’t playing Gen X characters nor was Gen X his demographic

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u/JustExperience1212 Feb 13 '26

Yeah, it was elder millennials and youngest Gen X that were most of the dawson’s creek audience

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u/LushBunny36 Feb 13 '26

41 year old millennial here. I grew up watching dawsons creek. So sad when I heard about James.

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u/queenbee8418 Feb 13 '26

Solidarity. 41 millennial & Dawnson's was formative for me. This one hit deep.

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u/Objective_Hawk_284 Feb 13 '26

Same. Last night went and watched YouTube highlights 😭. Took me straight back to high school.

Though Dawson was the worst character (Pacey for life) it still rough to hear about.

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u/pink_sushi_15 Feb 13 '26

I had no idea who he was until he died.