In the wake of James Van Der Beek’s untimely passing, countless of his peers issued public tributes in his honor, remembering him fondly.

Among them was Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson, who wrote at the time of the actor’s death aged 48 after a battle with cancer, February 11: “To Kimberly. With much love, we are here for you. Your Dawson’s Creek family will always be here for you and your beautiful family.”

“To everyone, thank you for your outpouring of love. It has been felt. Several times today, from my heart, I’ve tried to form the words to express the beautiful brilliance of James and what his presence has meant to my life. But I am truly at a loss for words. I will have to trust that one day those words will come… But today, all I can think about is Kimberly and the entire Van Der Beek family. My heart is with you,” he added in his statement on Instagram.

Kevin Williamson and James Van Der Beek arrive at the 14th Annual Young Hollywood Awards at Hollywood Athletic Club on June 14, 2012 in Hollywood, California© Getty Images
Kevin and James in 2012

Now, speaking with Esquire, the filmmaker has further opened up about James’ cancer battle, and the hopes he had had about a Dawson’s Creek reboot.

“James and I talked about rebooting Dawson’s Creek several times,” he revealed, noting that he had long been hesitant, despite his love for the show and its actors, given the series finale already featured a five-year time jump, therefore serving as a quasi-remake.

“[James] wanted to do it,” he went on, noting it was around 2016. “And, in fact, there was a moment where he was going to write it — and he had a really great idea for it. He had a beautiful plan.”

James Van Der Beek on Dawson's Creek© Getty Images
James as Dawson in 2001

“Then I think he got on a show and everybody got busy. It never happened. But there was a lot of talk about it,” he added. “We talked about it, but Michelle Williams’ character was already gone. Four had already become three. So we talked, but it didn’t happen.”

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Musing about what it might have looked like, Kevin further shared: “I think it was funny. I remember I had a conversation with Katie [Holmes] and him once, but I just don’t remember. I don’t want to misspeak, … I think it was a little along the lines of This Is Us. We envisioned it to have that kind of tone, because that was very popular at the time when we had been discussing it. So this [happened around] season one of that show.”

“Sony called and asked me a couple of times if I’d be interested in developing it, and I just didn’t want to go back there. I don’t know what that would look like,” he said.

Katie Holmes in white dress & James Van Der Beek in suit© Getty Images
With his co-star Katie Holmes

Further gushing about James and his passion for Dawson’s Creek, Kevin recalled other producers being hesitant to cast him as Dawson: “I was like, ‘Are you crazy? What’s wrong with you? That’s Dawson. Trust me.’”

Kimberly Brook black floral dress and James Van Der Beek white shirt and gray pants© Penske Media via Getty Images
James married his wife Kimberly in 2010

He remembered: “He was always questioning the lines: ‘Why am I saying this? Why am I doing that? Why don’t I go over there? Why am I going over here?’”

“I would be in L.A., he’d be [shooting] in North Carolina, and he would call from the makeup chair and be like, ‘Are you awake? … Okay, page 32…” Kevin added.