You’d be hard-pressed to find a more revered ’90s figure than James Van Der Beek. For six years, he stole the hearts and minds of teens across the country in Dawson’s Creek and churned out one of the more underrated performances of the decade in Varsity Blues .
Recently, James sat down to talk about family life with PEOPLE magazine and revealed some startling trouble on the home front. As it turns out, his oldest daughter has officially started using a cellphone and recently discovered memes. Which of course, led her down the rabbit hole to James’ classic “crying face” meme
If You Grew Up In The ’90s, Then You’re More Than Familiar With The Work Of James Van Der Beek.
James is perhaps best remembered as Dawson Leery from the iconic WB teen series, Dawson’s Creek (but I’ll always think of him as Mox from Varsity Blues ). Premiering in 1998, Dawson’s Creek ran for six incredible seasons and helped to launch the careers of Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, and Katie Holmes. But as memorable and revered as James undeniably was during his tenure on the Creek , it’s not what he’s known around this house for these days.
His Eldest Child Has Officially Discovered His “Crying Face” Meme
In case your meme game isn’t up to par — or if you’ve been living off-planet for the past decade — James’ “crying-face” meme is one of the greatest that the internet has ever seen. It’s taken from a memorable scene from the early days of Dawson’s Creek , and showcases some of James’ best/worst acting, depending on your own interpretation.
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“For Some Online Learning, We Got Them iPads and They Immediately Discovered Memes”
It all started with Olivia sending her father a meme of himself. Wanting to show that he was a good sport, James returned the message with a meme that showed him dancing. Olivia then went in for the kill and sent James a GIF of his infamous “crying face.”
” She immediately hit me with the cry face ,” he said, holding back laughter. “I thought, ‘That’s aggressive.'” Thankfully, Olivia is the only one of James’ children who seems to have figured out memes.
However, His Son Joshua (10) May Not Be Very Far Behind His Sister
“My son can sniff out when we walk into a restaurant and somebody recognizes me — the skill that took me like 20 years to learn,” James said. “And he just gets it: ‘Daddy, those ladies at the table right now? They know.’ It’s interesting.”
Despite being the butt of the joke among his older children, James is still just “daddy” to the little ones. The family recently celebrated baby Jeremiah’s first birthday, whom James refers to as the final piece of their happy family.
