Share and Follow
Famous for playing emotional filmmaker Dawson Leery on the teen drama Dawson’s Creek, James Van Der Beek’s life has looked different for a long time now. Van Der Beek stopped acting for a while and began living in Texas with his wife Kimberly and their five children. He seems content about devoting his time to his family and
Co-star Joshua Jackson’s net worth has risen in the years since he stopped playing the hilarious Pacey Witter. And he told The Times that he was paid a huge amount of money for Dawson’s Creek and sounded pretty stunned at what he was raking in. In contrast, James Van Der Beek doesn’t have as much money as fans might assume.
What Is James Van Der Beek’s Net Worth?
James Van Der Beek has a net worth of $8 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. It’s definitely surprising to hear that an actor who starred on a popular teen drama for six seasons would have a net worth that is under $10 million. Fans most likely think that the actor has been making tons of money for decades now.
Katie Holmes was paid a lot on Dawson’s Creek, and her net worth is much higher than Van Der Beek’s at $25 million. It would be easy to think that both actors would have similar net worths since they both spent the same amount of time on the TV series.
And they both got equal screen time as main characters Joey Potter and Dawson Leery who have an on-again, off again romantic relationship that always threatens to ruin their friendship.
It doesn’t sound like James Van Der Beek’s Dawson’s Creek salary was very high at all. He told Today.com that because he had “a bad contract” that didn’t include residual money, “I saw almost nothing from that.”
It’s surprising to hear that the actor didn’t receive a fortune from residuals. It would seem like someone would have it totally made after starring on a popular show like Dawson’s Creek.
When James Van Der Beek divorced his first wife Heather Ann McComb in 2010, fans heard about the money that he was making at that time in his life. According to TMZ, he earned $49,343 each month. People reported that the actor earned $35,000 each month and was ordered to pay McComb $7,750 every month for a few years, and he could stop in December 2012.
Being paid $35,000 or almost $50,000 a month is definitely a lot of money. Most people make that in a single year, not in four weeks. But when compared to other actors, it’s possible to say that isn’t very much at all.
What Movies And TV Shows Has James Van Der Beek Starred In Besides Dawson’s Creek?
Has James Van Der Beek made a lot of money in recent years? While he has definitely been acting, he hasn’t starred in any major movies. And he hasn’t starred on a TV show for a long enough period of time that he would have made some serious money from them.
Van Der Beek’s longest TV roles have been Eliljah Mundo on CSI: Cyber from 2015 to 2016 and a funny fictional version of himself on Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 from 2012 to 2013.
Read Related Also: Scarlett Johansson Stuns At Cannes After Revealing Husband Colin Jost Refused To Help Her With Iconic Movie Role
The actor also voiced Boris Hauntley on the animated series Vampirina from 2017 to 2021. His most recent movie role was in the 2020 film Bad Hair, however, which many people likely haven’t heard of. He has starred in a movie every few years since his 1999 role in Varsity Blues, but none of these films stand out much.
While these roles would have definitely paid pretty well and ensured that he kept working, they likely didn’t pay a huge amount or Van Der Beek’s net worth would be higher than it is. Still, it was fun to watch Van Der Beek joking around on Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 since he is famous for starring on an emotional teen drama, not for being a sitcom star. And it’s fair to say that he really threw himself into the role. He looked like he was having a lot of fun.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, the actor explained that when he was cast on the show, he was told it was because he appeared in several Funny Or Die videos. And he was a huge fan of the writing as soon as he got the scripts.
Van Der Beek told The Huffington Post, S”o I went in and met them and laughed for 45 minutes. They said, ‘We’ve written scripts with you in mind. Would you take a look at it?’ I walked out the door, read it immediately and it was hands down the funniest pilot script that I’d read in years. So it was a no-brainer to do it. I realized this was the comedy dream team I’d been waiting my whole career to work with.
What Did James Van Der Beek Get Paid For Dancing With The Stars?
James Van Der Beek also added to his net worth by competing on Dancing With The Stars. He appeared in season 28 and most likely made a good salary. It was fun for Dawson’s Creek fans to see the actor in a new light.
According to Parade.com, stars are typically paid $125,000. They begin earning $10,000 more every week if they can stay on the series three and four weeks into the competition.
James Van Der Beek teamed up with Emma Slater and they came in fifth place. Since he did stay on Dancing With The Stars for a fairly long amount of time, he must have been paid a high salary.
Van Der Beek went through a really tough time while filming his season of Dancing With The Stars. His wife Kimberly had a miscarriage, which was heartbreaking to hear about.
Emma Slater explained to People, “He needed the show. He said to me, ‘I need the show. I’m grateful to have an outlet and to have a form of physical expression and keep that engine to keep me going. I need to feel normal and not fall into the pit.’ ”
