James Van Der Beek Had A Small Role In A Forgotten Matt Damon Sci-Fi Movie

James Van Der Beek left behind a legacy worth being proud of when he died at age 48 on February 11, 2026 from complications related to colorectal cancer. But while he might be easily remembered as "Dawson's Creek" protagonist Dawson Leery or Mox from "Varsity Blues," he also had a short role in the little-seen 2017 Matt Damon film "Downsizing." His character — an unnamed anesthesiologist — is an old high school classmate of Damon's Paul Safranek and can be seen briefly speaking to him during a high school reunion scene. 

This might be a clever play on Van Der Beek's fame as Dawson, as the film also packs in cameos from plenty of other famous stars, like Neil Patrick Harris, Laura Dern, and Niecy Nash. The movie has Safranek, who works as an occupational therapist, volunteer for a downsizing experiment to fight climate change and overpopulation by making humans adapt to a smaller environment. Although Paul is left behind by his wife, who exits the experiment at the last minute, he soon immerses himself in his miniaturized new community and finds he has big things to accomplish after all.

Through no fault of James Van Der Beek's, "Downsizing" was virtually ignored at the box office. It had the misfortune of coming out in mid-December of 2017, where it was crushed at the holiday box office by the likes of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" and "The Greatest Showman," among others. It was judged a financial failure after making just a little over $55 million on a $68 million budget. On top of that, neither critics nor audiences were any kinder to the film, deeming it to be one of Matt Damon's worst movies, and time has not changed that perspective.

Perhaps audiences were less than enthusiastic about yet another film in which the protagonist is reduced to a fraction of their typical stature. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" mined this territory with a much more fantastic bent in 1957, Lily Tomlin put a comedic spin on it in 1981 for "The Incredible Shrinking Woman," and Rick Moranis used a similar premise to score a massive hit with 1989's "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." 

While "The Incredible Shrinking Man" is a sci-fi classic that's possibly due for a remake, and the Moranis movie is a family favorite, people have largely forgotten "Downsizing." But they'll never forget Van Der Beek's warm, charismatic presence on the big and small screens. It is, in fact, unshrinkable.