James Van Der Beek is joining the cast of the upcoming Legally Blonde prequel, Elle.
The Dawson’s Creek actor’s new role in the highly anticipated series was announced Thursday. According to Amazon, he will be playing the city’s new mayoral candidate and current school district superintendent, Dean Wilson.
Van Der Beek, 48, took to Instagram to share his excitement over the news.
“So, this is exciting… I’m going back to work for a bit,” he captioned a post. “Super excited to join this awesome cast in such a fun project.”
He added, “Almost as excited as my wife and girls are that I’m doing this.”
The new role comes months after Van Der Beek announced he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer.
He first shared his diagnosis on Instagram in November. Van Der Beek said at the time that he’d received the diagnosis in August 2023, adding that he was getting treatment and focusing on his health.
Van Der Beek will star in Elle alongside Lexi Minetree, June Diane Raphael, Tom Everett Scott, Gabrielle Policano, Jacob Moskovitz, Chandler Kinney and Zac Looker.
The upcoming prequel will follow Elle Woods (Minetree) in high school as we learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film, according to a logline.
Reese Witherspoon, who played Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, is an executive producer.
Elle is slated to arrive on Prime Video next summer.
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