Illness forced "Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek to bow out of Monday night's cast reunion and cancer benefit , with “ridiculously overqualified” understudy Lin-Manuel Miranda now cast to take his spot.

Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams were set to do a table read of the "Dawson's" 1998 pilot at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City.

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The event benefits a nonprofit that encourages early testing for cancer and support for patients. Van Der Beek was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in 2023 .

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