James Van Der Beek's surprising revelation about Dawson's Creek

He was just like any other wannabe actor before propelling to stardom in Dawson's Creek in 1998.

And just shy of twenty years later, James Van Der Beek - who played title character Dawson Leery - has opened up about much of an impact the teen cult drama had on his life - before surprisingly confessing he never watched the series back. 

"It changed my life, it was a huge opportunity. I learnt how to be on camera, how to do celebrity. It was a huge break," the American actor, now 40, recalled on ITV's This Morning about the show which proved to be The WB network's defining success story. 

James was clearly surprised that his nineties teenage heartthrob status was still hot on everyone's lips, revealing: "I didn’t imagine you’d still be talking about that."

The father-of-four, who boasts acting credits such as CSI and How I Met Your Mother, also admitted about his time on Dawson's Creek: "I never watched the full series. At a certain point it became easier to just do it and let it go."

The much-loved show also helped ignite the careers of Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams, during its successful six series run, before it culminated in 2003. 

Meanwhile, James' famous Dawson's Creek alter-ego is a far cry from his current status as a family man. 

The blonde star recently shared a touching tribute to the youngest of his four children, celebrating her first year of life.

"Just when I thought nobody could follow my other girls ... along came Emilia," he wrote. 

 In addition to Emilia, the star and his wife Kimberly, 35, also have daughter Olivia, aged six, son Joshua, aged five and another daughter Annabel, aged three. 

The Dawson's Creek actor also had kind words for his wife, who celebrated her birthday just a day before Emilia's.

On social media, James called his wife "A beautiful soul who brightens the world of everybody lucky enough to have her float through their orbit."

The pair married in 2010, just one year after James filed for divorce from his first wife actress Heather McComb.

This article was first published on Daily Mail and is republished here with permission.