Emotional Tribute: James Van Der Beek’s Daughter Emilia Honors Her Late Father at Age 9

Emilia Van Der Beek, the daughter of the late James Van Der Beek, recently shared her emotional journey through grief after the actor’s passing last month.

The nine-year-old posted a heartfelt video tribute in honor of her father’s would-be 49th birthday on Sunday, March 8, remembering the beloved Dawson’s Creek star.

In an Instagram post commemorating her dad’s first birthday since his passing, Emilia expressed, “I know my dad’s in a good place. He’s free from pain now.”

James Van Der Beek, aged 48, succumbed to cancer on February 11, at his residence in Austin, Texas.

He had publicly disclosed his cancer diagnosis back in late 2024, following a routine colonoscopy that took place a year earlier.

Kimberly Van Der Beek, who was married to the actor since 2010 and shared six children with the late star, posted her daughter’s video alongside a lengthy caption — after sharing her own birthday tribute to her late husband on the same day.

James Van Der Beek’s daughter Emilia, nine, opened up about her struggles with grief in a self-taped video

On what would have been her late father’s 49th birthday, she opened up about how she has been processing her grief and shared ‘little tips’ for others who have also lost a loved one; pictured in November 2024

‘Emilia asked me if she could make a video to post today, walked outside and came back with this,’ Kimberly wrote alongside her daughter’s self-taped video. 

‘In my stories are a whole lot of photos and some videos,’ the mother-of-six continued. 

‘All I want to do is watch videos of him right now with the kids. Thank you for the tremendous heart, love and support for the family.’

She added emojis of a pink heart and a teary-eyed smile as she addressed her late husband: ‘James… We will celebrate March 8th every day for the rest of our lives.’

Emilia is the fourth child out of six Van Der Beek welcomed with Kimberly during their longtime marriage. 

The late actor and his wife are also parents to Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, in addition to Emilia, as well as Gwendolyn and Jeremiah. 

The video showed the late star’s young daughter sitting outside and wearing an oversize trucker cap, which she later explained she ‘stole’ from her dad to remember him.

In the emotional video, Emilia began by addressing the public as she expressed her grief. 

She said she feels comforted knowing that her father is ‘in a good place’ and is no longer ‘in pain.’ She said she talks to him every day and also ‘stole his hat’ to remember him

Emilia is the fourth out of six children that the late actor welcomed with his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek

His longtime wife also shared an emotional tribute to the late actor for his first posthumous birthday after he passed away last month; pictured in July 2019 

‘As you will probably know, my dad has passed away,’ she said before adding that she wanted to share ‘little tips’ to help other people ‘[get] through anybody you love passing.’ 

‘So today is my dad’s birthday, and the number one thing for somebody’s passing is to talk to them and let your emotions out,’ she said. 

‘If you miss them, you can cry. You can talk to them. I talk to my dad every day,’ she continued.

‘I start with a sentence, and I say, “Hi, Dad. I miss you and I love you so much, and I’ll never stop loving you.” 

‘I just tell him about my day, how I’m feeling, and I told my family how I’m feeling,’ Emilia added. ‘And I know he can hear me, but I can’t hear him.’ 

She opened up about how she is processing her grief in the wake of his death as she said: ‘You have to feel them in your heart, because they’re in your heart. 

‘They’re watching over you,’ she added. ‘They’re a part of your body and in a good place. I know that my dad’s in a good place. He’s not in pain anymore. He’s in heaven above the clouds with God and the Lord.’ 

In their heartfelt tributes to Van Der Beek, Emilia also gave a shoutout to supporters who donated to the GoFundMe to support her and her family

Emilia also shared advice that her father once gave her in the heartfelt, minutes-long video and said she feels like he is ‘watching over’ her and her family

Van Der Beek died at the age of 48 on February 11 at his home in Austin, Texas after a battle with cancer . Back in late 2024, he revealed he had previously been diagnosed with cancer after a routine colonoscopy one year earlier; pictured in May 2025

Addressing other people who have also lost a loved one, she said it is okay to ‘be happy they’re in a good place’ but still ‘be sad because you miss them.’ 

‘Everybody has different emotions in their body, and they express it in different ways. Many, many different ways. And don’t let anybody tell you that. Be like, “No, you don’t know how I feel.”‘ 

She also shared advice that her father once gave her in the heartfelt, minutes-long video. 

‘Something my dad told me was if this doesn’t work out the way he wanted it to and the way we wanted it to for him living, I still have to believe in miracles,’ she said. ‘Miracles can still happen, just later on in life, and they’ll keep coming.’ 

To remember her father, she said that one of the things she did was how she ‘stole his hat.’ ‘My dad’s hat smells like him, and I love it so much,’ she mused. 

‘I know that he was a good man. A lot of people loved him, and people prayed for him, and he was loved by … many, many people,’ she said before giving a shoutout to those who donated to the GoFundMe to raise money for her family.