Michelle Williams attended the SAG’s 2026 Actor Awards, marking her first appearance since the death of her Dawson’s Creek costar James Van Der Beek.
Williams, 45, posed for photos with husband Thomas Kail at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 1. The actress is nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for her role in FX’s Dying for Sex.
Sunday’s appearance was also the first public appearance Williams has made since news broke of Van Der Beek’s death at age 48.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” read a February statement on the actor’s Instagram page. “There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
Williams has yet to break her silence after working with Van Der Beek on the hit WB show, which ran from 1998 to 2003. After Van Der Beek announced his stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2024, Williams publicly voiced her support for her former costar.
“We’re in contact, and he’s in our hearts and our minds, and he knows that,” Williams told Entertainment Tonight in April 2025. “And we’re here for him in every and all ways.”
Williams later organized a Dawson’s Creek reunion to raise money for F Cancer, saying in an August 2025 statement, “We grew up in Capeside and that’s a bond that will last a lifetime. We wanted to gather around our dear friend James and remind him that we are all here. We always have been and we always will be. And I know the fans of Dawson’s Creek feel the same way.”
Van Der Beek was ultimately not able to attend due to a stomach virus. He expressed his gratitude for the rest of his costars — including Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson — who showed up for the reading of the Dawson’s Creek pilot episode.
“I have been looking forward to this night for months and months ever since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together. I can’t believe I’m not there. I can’t believe I don’t get to see my castmates, my beautiful cast in person,” Van Der Beek said in a video message shared with the crowd in September 2025.
He added: “And I just want to stand on that stage and thank every single person in the theater for being here tonight. From the cast to the crew to everybody who’s doing anything and has been so generous, and especially every single last one of you — you are the best fans in the world. Thank you for coming. It’s just absolutely humbling just how much you did for this night, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you to every single person here.”
