The Movie Where James Van Der Beek Broke Bad

In 2022, The Rules of Attraction fizzled at the box office and got mediocre reviews. But the deranged tale of nihilistic college students deserves a watch — if only to see the actor play the ultimate anti-Dawson Flashback The Movie Where James Van Der Beek Broke Bad In 2022, The Rules of Attraction fizzled at the box office and got mediocre reviews. But the deranged tale of nihilistic college students deserves a watch — if only to see the actor play the ultimate anti-Dawson By Ky Henderson Ky Henderson There’s No Big Mystery in ‘Aaron Rodgers: Enigma’ Feuding Co-Workers Get Medieval on Each Other in ‘Ren Faire’ John Oliver Ends His Season By Kicking the Shit Out of This Year’s World Cup View all posts by Ky Henderson February 15, 2026 James Van Der Beek as the amoral psychopath Sean in 'The Rules of Attraction.' Lionsgate It’s a movie based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis about a destructive young psychopath named Bateman. The movie’s leading man, a well-regarded former child actor now in his mid-twenties, is playing against type, meaning the movie gives him the opportunity to establish himself as a versatile, bankable movie star. Upon premiering, however, the film receives a response that ranges from tepid to hostile. Movie fans and serial killer aficionados alike may recognize that as a description of the 2000 cult classic American Psycho, starring Christian Bale — but it is also a description of the mostly forgotten 2002 film The Rules of Attraction, starring James Van Der Beek. Rules is a weird, frenetic, garish movie that Van Der Beek, who died Wednesday at 48, believed in deeply and hoped would reboot and redefine his career as Dawson’s Creek came to an end. He plays Sean Bateman, a human id who is, in the Ellis-verse, the younger brother of serial killer Patrick Bateman, the titular American Psycho. (In a bit of fan service, Sean at one point answers the phone, “Patrick?” thinking it’s his brother.) Sean isn’t literally bloodthirsty like his bro, though he does describe himself as an “emotional vampire.” He deals drugs to his college classmates, napalms the feelings of anyone attempting to get close to him, and at one point punches Jessica Biel in the face. Sean is too awful a person to rise to the level of an antihero, but he is most assuredly an anti-Dawson. The year after Rules came out, I wrote a profile of Van Der Beek. Dawson’s Creek had just gone off the air and the actor, then 26, was eager to talk about his future. I was eager to ask him about The Rules of Attraction. I told him I’d enjoyed his performance, and noted how striking it was that he had chosen to do such a hard 180 from his previous work. “One thing I was very aware of from the start is that I couldn’t ask people to pay 10 bucks to see me do in a movie what they could see me do on TV for free,” Van Der Beek told me. “Everyone said I was trying to change my image, but I didn’t look at it that way. It was the best unmade script I’d ever seen, and it meant I didn’t have to play the same character I’d been playing for five years.” Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century The script, by Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary, who also directed, wasn’t the only thing the movie had going for it. In addition to Van Der Beek, it featured an impressive cast of young early-aughts actors. Shannyn Sossaman plays a virgin with whom Sean believes he’s in love. Biel is a pitiless cokehead who, we’re told, later marries a senator and has four kids. Ian Somerhalder’s character delights in seducing aggro closeted dudes. Kate Bosworth is a corny idiot. And Faye Dunaway, Fred Savage, Swoosie Kurtz, and Paul Williams steal scenes in minor roles thanks to Tarantino-lite stunt casting. Before I interviewed Van Der Beek, I watched a promotional DVD of Rules I found lying on a table at the magazine where I worked. I had no idea what to expect in part because of the movie’s schizophrenic marketing campaign. One trailer began, “From the corrupt minds that brought you Pulp Fiction and American Psycho…” which is embarrassing for how hard it’s trying but at least gives an indication of the film’s DNA. The rest of the trailer, along with TV ads, positioned Rules as a fun teen movie not unlike others of the time, a golden age of fun teen movies roughly bookended by 1995’s Clueless and 2004’s Mean Girls and encompassing films like 10 Things I Hate About You, Bring It On, Can’t Hardly Wait, and She’s All That. I had watched Van Der Beek be photographed for hours that day, forced to wear a series of increasingly ridiculous outfits in a series of increasingly ridiculous poses. He was doing it mostly outdoors at the imposing Bethlehem Steel Mill on a hot, rainy day. Yet his positive, polished demeanor never changed — until I asked him about the marketing campaign for The Rules of Attraction. Related Content James Van Der Beek’s