James Van Der Beek

James: I'm kind of shocked that it's taken Hollywood so long to realize that so many great movie talents can come out of television. One of the reasons they do is that on TV you don't have the luxury of a film's big budget, and people have to compensate with creativity.

James: At a young age, acting was so inspiring and exciting, because to me it was play - make-believe, pretend. I remember one day during my freshman year of high school, when as usual I was obsessively listening to a cast recording: it may have been Jesus Christ Superstar. And I remember sitting there, totally absorbed, saying to myself, "I can do this."

James: (on his relationship with the "Dawson's Creek" cast) Sometimes it can be really stressful. But that's where it's important to have a close cast working together. On our show - Michelle, Katie, Josh and I get along really well. We all started together - and we back each other whenever we have any problems with the writers. So if there's unity amongst the cast then that reduces the level of stress and tension that can work its way into a long-running show.