In a heartening show of support, fans of the late actor James Van Der Beek were thrilled to learn that a GoFundMe campaign launched for his family has surpassed the $2 million mark in donations as of Thursday.

This impressive milestone was reached shortly after 10 p.m. ET, taking less than 48 hours since the fundraiser was initiated on Wednesday, following the announcement of the Dawson’s Creek star’s untimely death at the age of 48.

The campaign’s success exceeded its initial goal of $1.5 million, a target that had already been increased from an earlier aim of $550,000.

Van Der Beek passed away after a courageous battle with colorectal cancer, a fight that began in August 2023. He only made his diagnosis public in November 2024.

The GoFundMe page was created to support his widow, Kimberly, and their six children, who have been left financially strained after enduring the costly and extensive cancer treatments.

Among the notable contributors to the fund, along with a recurring donation from actress Zoë Saldaña, was a significant contribution from renowned filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

The iconic filmmaker and his wife Kate Capshaw made a $25,000 donation to the GoFundMe, marking the second-largest donation behind an anonymous $30,000 gift. 

As was the case with other celebrities who donated to the fundraiser, many commenters on social media berated Spielberg for not making a larger donation.

‘Worth a few hundred million….donates $25k. May as well flipped his family a quarter and told them to call someone who cares [sic],’ wrote one incensed account on X (formerly Twitter). 

The poster severely underestimated Spielberg’s net worth, as Forbes estimates that he is worth $7.1 billion, as of Thursday. 

‘Spielberg is worth billions and could easily setup the kids for life or wipe his family medical bills but decides to donate $25k?? F***ing pathetic,’ wrote another user. 

Some commenters couldn’t wrap their minds around the possibility that years of cancer treatments could severely affect the finances of Van Der Beek’s family. 

‘Why would his family need money, wasn’t he an actor that made millions,’ wrote one person.

Other users put the blame on the residual payouts structure that kept Van Der Beek from making as much as actors on popular shows on major networks. 

‘They need to fix his Dawsons Creek contract, so he can get the residuals he is owed. So his family can live off that income for how ever long. Its criminal that he doesn’t get residuals from that show,’ added another fan.

But others saluted Spielberg and Capshaw for their generosity. 

‘The massive outpouring of support from fans and a legend like Spielberg proves that James Van Der Beek’s legacy as a person far outweighed his fame as an actor,’ wrote an approving poster.

Van Der Beek doesn’t appear to have had a real-life professional relationship with Spielberg, but the filmmaker’s donation was meaningful to fans of Dawson’s Creek, as the late actor’s character considered Spielberg to be his hero.

Like the Jaws director, Dawson aspired to be a filmmaker, and he decorated his bedroom with posters from Spielberg’s films as inspiration.

Spielberg did reach out to Dawson’s Creek fans last year, when he recorded a video message for a reunion event in September, in which the original cast members did a live reading of the 1998 pilot script.

Van Der Beek was notably absent due to illness, and Lin-Manuel Miranda stepped in to read for Dawson, but the rest of the cast was featured at the reunion, including Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps, while Hamilton star Renée Elise Goldsberry narrated the event.

While Van Der Beek couldn’t be there in person, he did speak to his fans via a video message. 

‘I can’t believe I don’t get to hug my cast mates,’ he said in his clip as his voice got choked up, according to Variety. ‘I wanted to stand on that stage and thank every single person in this theater for being here tonight.’

After the reading concluded, he returned with another video message.

‘Now, nobody in their right mind would ever draw a parallel between the two, but one very big similarity between Dawson and the Phantom of the Opera is that both of them were faced with the reality that the woman they loved truly loved somebody else, said, “Go to him. Go to him now before I change my mind.” Only one resulted in a crying face meme,’ joked Van Der Beek, before he introduced a performance of The Music Of The Night by Norm Lewis. 

It was then that Spielberg made an appearance via video to salute the show.

‘Dawson, you made it,’ he said, according to video posted to social media by an audience member. ‘Maybe someday, I will get to have a Dawson’s closet.’

Wicked director Jon Chu also made one of the top donations to Van Der Beek’s GoFundMe with $10,000. 

Zoë Saldaña has set up recurring donations to James Van Der Beek’s family after his death on Wednesday.

The actress, 47, apparently organized monthly payments of $2,500 to a GoFundMe, according to screenshots from the website.

Fans were heartened and astounded by Saldana’s generosity toward Van Der Beek’s family, who previously said they were ‘out of funds’ after the star died aged 48.

She and the Dawson’s Creek star, who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, do not appear to have had any substantial on-screen collaborations and it is unclear if the two were friends.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Saldana’s representatives for comment.

She expressed her heartbreak over Van Der Beek’s death with a tribute post shared on Instagram on Wednesday.

‘This hits hard… Our deepest condolences to his family,’ she wrote while posting a photo of the actor.

On X, several accounts noted her apparent charity.

‘Zoe Saldana donating $2,500 to James Van Der Beek’s family, MONTHLY, in the wake of his loss is just about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,’ one user said on X.

The post included a screenshot showing the donation, which was made out from ‘Zoe Saldana–Perego,’ the actress’s married name.

The comments were filled with users saluting Saldana for looking out for Van Der Beek’s family, including his widow, Kimberly, and their six children. 

‘What an incredibly kind gesture from a wonderful young lady,’ one said.

‘Wow, monthly, that is amazing and will be such a relief to a grieving mom,’ another chimed in. 

‘Monthly support like that? Zoe Saldana is setting the standard for humanity,’ a user wrote. 

‘The fact that this is a recurring monthly commitment shows the depth of her character,’ added another poster. 

Some commenters took issue with Saldana’s donation, either because they thought it was not large enough given her net worth or because they assumed the campaign would not last long enough for many monthly payments to be made to Van Der Beek’s family.

‘Zoe Saldana’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $60 million. And yet $2,500? Better than nothing, I guess,’ read one comment.

‘I mean, she is the highest-grossing actor of all time,’ another person wrote, seemingly suggesting that the amount was not high enough.

‘Can’t help but think that there may be a family out there that could use help even more than the children of a millionaire,’ another person suggested.

But several commenters reacted defensively to the negative slant of some of the posts.

‘What should have been a heartfelt post has turned into something else in the comments. What a beautiful gesture, hopefully it inspires others who are able to go the same [sic],’ added one commenter.