Mary-Margaret Humes, 71, who portrayed Gale Leery on Dawson’s Creek, privately battled colon cancer in 2007, she disclosed ahead of a planned Dawson’s Creek cast reunion for a fundraiser supporting James Van Der Beek, who announced in 2024 that he has stage 3 colorectal cancer.
Humes told Us Weekly that early detection helped her avoid a worse outcome and urged others to get screened, saying cancers are survivable when caught early. The upcoming event will feature a live reading of the show’s pilot with Humes, Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Busy Philipps, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith and Meredith Monroe. Jason Moore will direct and produce the reading alongside Williams, her husband Thomas Kail, the show’s creator Kevin Williamson, Carl Ogawa, Maggie Brohn and Greg Berlanti, the participants said. The reunion aims to celebrate Van Der Beek as he faces his own health challenge and to rally support from the fan community that helped propel the series to global popularity.
The benefit marks a high-profile reunion for the series, which aired from 1998 to 2003 and followed young adults navigating love, friendship and loss in Capeside. While the cast has periodically reunited for interviews and projects, the pilot-reading format underscores the ties that bound the ensemble together during its peak.
The event’s lineup reads like a Dawson’s Creek reunion list: Van Der Beek and Williams, alongside Holmes, Jackson, Philipps, Peil, Shipp, Repeta, Smith and Monroe, will participate. Jason Moore, a longtime collaborator on the project, is directing and producing the reading with Williams and Kail as producers, while Williamson, Carl Ogawa, Maggie Brohn and Greg Berlanti lend their creative and production support.
Williamson has spoken publicly about the longer-term fate of Dawson’s Creek, noting that a traditional television reboot isn’t currently planned, though he left open the possibility of other formats for revisiting Capeside. He lauded the cast as an enduring family and said the reunion serves both fans and the friends who created the show. Williams has echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the enduring bond among the on-screen family and their desire to be there for Van Der Beek.
Outside of the fundraiser, cast members have continued to surface in new projects and reunions. Holmes and Jackson recently resurfaced together in public, fueling speculation about a renewed collaborative effort, and Williams has teased future collaborations with longtime colleagues. Van Der Beek has described reconnecting with his former castmates as a meaningful and restorative process as he navigates his cancer journey.
The Dawson’s Creek era left an indelible imprint on its audience and on the careers of its stars. The cast’s decision to stage a live reading to support a fellow actor underscores the lasting connections formed during Capeside’s memorable drama, and the ongoing appeal of the show’s coming-of-age storylines for new generations of fans.