--- title: James Van Der Beek Addresses His Crying Meme Face description: Dawson addresses his own iconic ugly crying face meme after all these years. canonical: https://time.com/5224526/james-van-der-beek-ugly-cry-face/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-02T14:24:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:47.406Z og:title: James Van Der Beek Addresses His Ugly Cry Face Meme og:description: After all these years og:url: https://time.com/5224526/james-van-der-beek-ugly-cry-face/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcd8cd7f67b1249f/6988e1a3096a949a5169ff93/gettyimages-847162886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5604 og:image:height: 3152 og:image:alt: The Hollywood Reporter And SAG-AFTRA Inaugural Emmy Nominees Night Presented By American Airlines, Breguet, And Dacor - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: James Van Der Beek Addresses His Ugly Cry Face Meme twitter:description: After all these years twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcd8cd7f67b1249f/6988e1a3096a949a5169ff93/gettyimages-847162886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James Van Der Beek Has Thoughts About His Ugly Cry Face Becoming an Iconic Internet Meme > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=df2a4bec-d1a7-4d40-bd1f-df103d38bf78&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) 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/) ```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"}}]}] ```