Former TV legend unrecognisable after quitting Hollywood

Ex-Dawson’s Creek actor James Van Der Beek has undergone a dramatic transformation after leaving Los Angeles for Texas with his large family.

Dawson’s Creek legend James Van Der Beek looks unrecognisable with long hair 20 years after teen soap and quitting Hollywood.

The 46-year-old played Dawson Leery in the drama between 1998 and 2003, reports The Sun.

Dawson’s Creek followed the lives of a group of American teens navigating through their high school to college transition.

Van Der Beek starred in the teen show alongside Katie Holmes, Joey Potter, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams.

The show had six successful seasons with 128 episodes before ending in the early 2000s.

After his role in the hit program, Van Der Beek went on to star in a number of popular shows and films.

Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek during the show’s heyday.

He’s gone for a much more casual look since quitting Hollywood.

Some of his roles include characters in Criminal Minds, Ugly Betty, Don’t Trust the B**** in Apartment 23 and Modern Family.

But in 2020 Van Der Beek announced that he was quitting Los Angeles and moving to Texas with his wife Kelly Brook and their six kids.

“In the last 10 months, we’ve had two late-term pregnancy losses, each of which put @vanderkimberly in the hospital,” the actor wrote in a candid post.

“We spent Christmas break thinking she had a tumour (the doctor was wrong, thank god), a business colleague I hired hijacked the project and stabbed me in the back, I was prematurely booted off a reality dancing show I was favoured to win in front of the whole world, and my mum died.”

Van Der Beek, his wife and kids moved to Texas in 2020.

“And a shutdown,” he continued, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “All of that led to some drastic changes in our lives, and dreams, and priorities … and landed us here.”

“Overflowing with profound gratitude today,” Van Der Beek added.

The star first announced that his family were moving back in September, after sharing photos of his empty Beverly Hills home.

“Sometimes a fuller life begins with an empty house,” the captioned the shots. “Leaving Los Angeles incredibly grateful for all the friends and memories we’ve made here. Onto the next big adventure!”

Despite not being on our screens for three years, Van Der Beek has a huge following on social media and loves to keep his fans up to date with what he gets up to.

His Instagram bio states: “#Husband, #father, #writer, professional make-believer, work in progress.”

The star has over one million followers on the platform.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.