--- ---  # James Van Der Beek Has Thoughts About His Ugly Cry Face Becoming an Iconic Internet Meme by [Michele Corriston / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Michele Corriston / People Contributor Apr 2, 2018 2:24 PM UTC  James Van Der Beek attends The Hollywood Reporter and SAG-AFTRA Inaugural Emmy Nominees Night on Sept. 14, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. James Van Der Beek attends The Hollywood Reporter and SAG-AFTRA Inaugural Emmy Nominees Night on Sept. 14, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.Rich Fury—THR/Getty Images by [Michele Corriston / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Michele Corriston / People Contributor Apr 2, 2018 2:24 PM UTC _Dawson’s Creek_ was _the_ teen drama to watch in the ’90s and early aughts. But even younger audiences who grew up on its successors like _The O.C., Gossip Girl_ or _The Vampire Diaries_ probably recognize star James Van Der Beek from Tumblr. A shot of his character tearfully letting childhood love Joey (Katie Holmes) move on with his best friend Pacey (Joshua Jackson) in season 3 is now [a viral meme](http://ew.com/tv/2018/03/30/dawsons-creek-cast-crying-meme/) — and he’s all for the Internet’s obsession. “I love it,” Van Der Beek admits in this week’s issue of _Entertainment Weekly_, which [reunited the cast for the first time since the teen drama’s 2003 finale](http://people.com/tv/dawsons-creek-cast-reunion-20th-anniversary/).“It’s hilarious to me that you can work for six years on a show, 120-something hours, and it gets boiled down to three seconds.” _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/tv/james-van-der-beek-loves-ugly-cry-face/) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://people.com/) James Van Der Beek Addresses His Crying Meme Face ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5224526/james-van-der-beek-ugly-cry-face/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5224526/james-van-der-beek-ugly-cry-face/"},"headline":"James Van Der Beek Has Thoughts About His Ugly Cry Face Becoming an Iconic Internet Meme","datePublished":"2018-04-02T14:24:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:47.406Z","description":"Dawson addresses his own iconic ugly crying face meme after all these years.","url":"https://time.com/5224526/james-van-der-beek-ugly-cry-face/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcd8cd7f67b1249f/6988e1a3096a949a5169ff93/gettyimages-847162886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michele Corriston / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcd8cd7f67b1249f/6988e1a3096a949a5169ff93/gettyimages-847162886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Hollywood Reporter And SAG-AFTRA Inaugural Emmy Nominees Night Presented By American Airlines, Breguet, And Dacor - Red Carpet","caption":"The Hollywood Reporter And SAG-AFTRA Inaugural Emmy Nominees Night Presented By American Airlines, Breguet, And Dacor - Red Carpet","creditText":"Rich Fury—THR/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5224526/james-van-der-beek-ugly-cry-face/","name":"James Van Der Beek Has Thoughts About His Ugly Cry Face Becoming an Iconic Internet Meme"}}]}] ```