Marlon Wayans recounts James Van Der Beek’s Dawson’s Creek cameo in Scary Movie: ‘James was cool as hell’. K2

The Scary Movie franchise is loaded with hilarious examples of stunt casting, from Carmen Electra skewering Drew Barrymore’s iconic Scream cold open to Lindsay Lohan showing up as Lindsay Lohan in Scary Movie 5.

But few hit as hard now as the late James Van Der Beek‘s brief Dawson’s Creek-inspired cameo early in the flagship entry. Ahead of the first trailer for the franchise’s raucous sixth installment, also titled Scary Movie, star and co-writer Marlon Wayans took Entertainment Weekly back to the day on set when Dawson Leery came to play.

“James was cool as hell for even doing it,” Wayans says of the actor, who died last month after battling colorectal cancer. “He was huge on Dawson’s Creek. He was like, ‘Oh, I’m game,’ and I was like, ‘bet.'”

The first Scary Movie hit theaters in 2000. The year leading up to the premiere was indeed a huge one for Van Der Beek, who debuted as the dreamy Dawson in 1998. Dawson’s Creek‘s premiere rocketed the series to success, becoming the fledgling WB’s most-watched show and massively ratcheting up anticipation for seasons 2 and 3, which aired as Scary Movie was in production and readying for its own premiere.

“It was quick, but the audience loved it. ‘Oh! Wrong, wrong, wrong set!’ And he just leaves,” Wayans recalls, reliving the scene. “It was just the coolest moment.”

Van Der Beek pops into the film Dawson-style during a steamy scene between Anna Faris and John Abrahams.

Though Scary Movie makes good on the promise of its title in lampooning some of the era’s biggest horror films, other genres weren’t safe either. In the case of Faris and Abrahams’ characters and their interrupted love scene, it was American Pie, which their costar Shannon Elizabeth appeared in the year before.

Just as Cindy (Faris) and Bobby (Abrahams) are about to get down to it, the Dawson’s Creek theme song, Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait,” begins to softly play as Van Der Beek climbs into Cindy’s window. “The heck?” he says, looking around in confusion before jumping down. “Wrong set.”