Dawson's Creek Alum James Van Der Beek Sings With Daughter Olivia on TV
You won't wanna wait to see this.
James Van Der Beek joined his daughter Olivia, 13, as she made her TV debut on the Feb. 28 season finale of the singing game show We Are Family. The series, which premiered in January, features performances from relatives of celebs, who are themselves later revealed to the audience.
Olivia, the eldest of the Dawson's Creek alum and wife Kimberly Van Der Beek's six kids, was singing country singer Lee Ann Womack's 2000 hit "I Hope You Dance" when he later stepped out from behind a barrier to reveal his identity.
And Olivia was more than thrilled to be sharing the stage with her dad. "He's a busy guy but still clears his schedule to spend as much time with his kids as humanly possible," she told the crowd, "and I just really admire that and I think he's amazing."
A day later, James shared a behind-the-scenes video from their experience as he reminisced about the early days of his career in the early-'90s.
"When I was 15, I first told my mom I wanted to audition professionally. She didn't hold me back. She took me to NYC, and she walked me through it," the Varsity Blues actor said on Instagram. "So when the opportunity to do #WeAreFamilyFox came up and my 13 year-old lit up like a carbon copy of me at that age… I let her put herself on tape. I got her some voice lessons. And I walked her through it."
Adding that Olivia had "never sung in front of people before," the 46-year-old continued, "So proud of my baby girl. And I call her that because when I watched her tonight, all I could see was the newborn in the bassinet who I could not stop looking at in awe. Kid's still got it."
As seen in his Instagram video, after the taping, James asked his daughter how she felt.
"I feel so good," she responded with a smile. "I want to do it again."
James and Kimberly live with Olivia and younger kids Joshua, 11, Annabel, 10, Emilia, 7, Gwendolyn, 5, and Jeremiah, 2, on a ranch near Austin, Texas. Having a large family with young children makes it challenging for the couple to find time for themselves, but they make an effort to make it work.
"I mean, it takes a lot of organization, I will say that," James exclusively told E! News in 2022. "You know, okay, 'you got the six kids' bedtime? You good? Great, we're out.' That doesn't quite happen. So there's a lot of training and an explanation that goes into it."
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