Dawson’s Creek’s James van der Beek gains new ground in his career with CSI: Cyber, writes Debashine Thangevelo
LOVED for his coming-of-age character, Dawson Leery, in the hit teen drama Dawson’s Creek, James van der Beek didn’t quite enjoy the same measure of success as his co-stars, Michelle Williams, Kerr Smith and Joshua Jackson.
Even Katie Holmes, who, let’s be honest, was more famous for marrying Tom Cruise than as an A-list actress, surpassed him on the movie front.
His movie roles, while substantial enough for a paid actor, comprised largely flimsy roles in made-for-TV films. On the TV front, he gained a bit of traction by playing a sort of caricature of him in the comedy Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.
But he undid whatever mileage he made by following on with Friends with Better Lives, a comedy where he plays Will Stokes, a gynaecologist who returns to his bachelor “freedom” after his wife cheats on him. The sitcom looked at the relationships of six close-knit friends in dysfunctional/functional stages of their respective romances.
Whether it was simply a stroke of luck or by design that he was signed on as one of the leads in CSI: Cyber, it has definitely been the best move in his TV career so far.
“When I got a call to join the biggest television franchise in TV history, and to work with Patricia Arquette – tackling this new realm of cyber-crime through the lens of CSI – and play the guy who kicks down doors, throws people in handcuffs and runs interrogations, yeah, I was pretty thrilled,” he says. Playing Elijah Mundo is a game-changing role for Van Der Beek.
“Signing with the CSI franchise, you feel that you are playing for a really big player. I mean, you feel the weight of that, and you feel the professionalism of everyone around. The first time I walked onto that set, I was blown away. It’s impressive. It’s cool. It’s modern.”
Admittedly, he does cut a fine figure in his suit, wearing that poker face.
Shedding light on his character, he reveals: “It’s a fun skin to be in. It’s a fun point in my life and career where I get offered such a role. Elijah is good at his job. He’s a former military guy who has now joined the FBI to assist and help one of the smartest, sharpest women in the world.”
And Van Der Beek is quite partial to the physicality of the role – it’s the kind of action he dreamt of as a little kid yearning to be an actor. Now he is living that dream.
In terms of the cases that crop up in the show, Van Der Beek notes: “That’s the real kind of hook of every episode. All the stuff we are fighting could happen to anyone.”
On technology being the backbone of this series, which is blessed with a sterling cast, he says: “I’ve had the scariest conversations I’ve ever had in my life with some of the real FBI experts that we are working with. The whole world is connected through all these devices.
“Anything that is connected is hackable. And there are a lot of people out there with hacking skills, some good, some not so good. It’s a scary world. I think everybody is on the cusp of realising how vulnerable we all are.”
One of his memorable episodes is one that involves an arsonist who hacks into printers, turning off the cooling engine while heating up the ink sensor.
In joining this high-tech, make-believe world, Van Der Beek has certainly amplified his profile. Not a bad tactical move…
• CSI: Cyber airs on Wednesday on M-Net (DStv channel 101) at 9.30pm.