James Van Der Beek has never competed on “Dancing with the Stars.” But his fictional alter ego has.
Van Der Beek, announced Wednesday as one of 12 celebrities participating in Season 28 of the ABC dance competition (due Sept. 16), already competed on the show in his 2012-13 ABC comedy, “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.”
Van Der Beek, 42, acknowledges it’s a “totally meta” moment.
On that late, lamented comedy, which starred Krysten Ritter before she entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe as “Jessica Jones,” Van Der Beek played a heightened version of himself, an actor struggling to revive his career after the teen glory days of “Dawson’s Creek” and “Varsity Blues.”
To jumpstart his career, the character competes on “Dancing” and the result is a disaster. The real Van Der Beek surely hopes his upcoming experience will go better.
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“I’ve been wanting to do (‘Dancing’) since ‘Apartment 23.’ I pitched the storyline where fake me went on fake ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ That was my pitch, (that) I nailed (the dance performance) in rehearsals and then completely melted down in the live show,” he says, crediting executive producer Nahnatchka Khan for “running with it.”
Van Der Beek, who loves dancing but has no formal training, learned some moves for the fictional ‘Dancing,’ but says he’s “terrified” of the rigorous rehearsals for the real thing.
He says it wasn’t the right time soon after the “Apartment 23” storyline.
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“I was at a different place in my career. Back then, I was just getting my career footing back after that post-teen idol (period). And I’d also just done it (on ‘Apartment 23’), so I didn’t think it would be the right thing, going on the real ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ But I’m in a completely different place career-wise now, and when the offer came in … the answer (was) 100% yes,” he says. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m excited.”
