Legally Blonde prequel series Elle features a tribute to James Van Der Beek, who made a heartbreaking final confession to the producers before his death in February 2026. The new TV show landed on Prime Video on July 1st, focusing on Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) as she journeys through high school and her formative experiences that led to the character we meet in Legally Blonde. When Elle and her family move to Seattle, they’re met by superintendent and mayoral candidate Dean Wilson, played by James Van Der Beek in his final role. Filming for the series began in April 2025, a couple of years after Van Der Beek was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer. Sadly, he passed away on February 11th, 2026, aged 48. Episode three of the series pays tribute to the late actor with a title card at the end reading, “In loving memory of James Van Der Beek.” Credit: Prime Video Showrunner Caroline Dries also spoke about working with him, and how starring in the show helped him to deal with his illness. Elle helped James Van Der Beek to ‘forget the pain he was in’ Speaking to People, Dries revealed that Van Der Beek told her that acting helped him to “forget the pain he was in”. “James told me that acting allowed him to be someone [else] and forget the pain he was in. But even off camera, James appeared to be buoyant and happy,” she said. “He brought his daughters to set, he sat with us on plastic folding chairs in video village, he made us laugh, he told us stories and he showed us nothing but kindness. This would be James’ last role. Our cast gave him the space to feel that joy.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by People Magazine (@people) Dries told the outlet that it was “such a privilege” to be able to help the star deal with the hardship he was facing due to the cancer diagnosis. “James said to us, ‘When I’m acting, I forget all the stuff I’m going through personally, and I get to become a different person, and you can just turn that part of your life off,’” she added. Co-showrunner Laura Kittrell described him as “incredible” on set, saying, “When we were conceiving of that character, we always thought it would be so fun to have somebody who did feel like more of a ’90s throwback. “He was just so fun and game and had such a good energy and positive outlook on set.” “At a point in the season where you start to get tired, the hours are long, having [his daughters] around just being so positive and so invested and curious about everything was so fun,” Kittrell added. The cast also paid tribute to Van Der Beek, with Wyatt Woods star Tom Everett Scott telling Digital Spy, “I have great memories of working with James. I’d never met him before and had always been a fan, and I came on set and he was just so lovely. Credit: Prime Video “Such a good actor and so handsome, and we just had a great time. He enjoyed being on set, he enjoyed acting. We all went to dinner one night and got to know each other a little better, and it’s just been a real pleasure to have known him.” Kimberly star Chandler Kinne said he’s “such an angel of a human”, adding, “That is so rare that you come across a person like that, who is so wise. “It’s like he had lived so many lives and was so generous with his time and his energy and his wisdom, his advice. It was such a beautiful time.” For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Prime Video Post navigation Next story
