What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here for Young Hollywood, and I think you know this guy, James Van der Beek. Thank you for having us at your home away from home. James Van der Beek: Thank you. Yeah. Welcome to the Geffen Playhouse.

Thank you. You're place for a few weeks now. James Van der Beek: Yeah, I'm doing a play here until March 10th. Called the Gift.

Called the Gift. It's actually not about Legos, it's about real people. Well, why don't you take me inside, show me what you do on a daily basis. James Van der Beek: Come on in.

Okay, cool. So, this is not too shabby for your L. A. stage debut. It's a beautiful theater. And the funny thing about the show is, I laughed my butt off. Uh-huh. But yet, I was like, wow. Art? James Van der Beek: That's right. That's how you That's how you make a living for better or worse. Usually worse. You make art.

Uh-huh. Gee. Well, an artist. James Van der Beek: Yep. I think there's just this invisible line that goes right down the population. Those who grab life and all its mysteries and those who just let it sail on by.

It was like thought-provoking, but yet I was laughing. Good. Crazy. James Van der Beek: Yeah, it's thought-provoking. It's pretty, uh, it's pretty provocative, uh, which kind of gets some people very angry actually.

Really? Yeah. You've gotten angry tweets about it? James Van der Beek: Yeah, I've gotten angry people. We have some talkbacks, too, when some people in the audience will be like, I just, I mean, they really They get upset about it. This is true, but at the same time, I think the show leaves it open, maybe they don't Right. Accept the gift. Right. But it makes you wonder.

Maybe they don't. James Van der Beek: That's the idea. I mean, the idea any good theater, I think, leaves you having a really intense, involved conversation on the way home. And so, this that's definitely the aim of this show.

Okay, let's find a little nook to hang out and chit-chat. James Van der Beek: Let's do it.

So, I see you, um, scratching at your jeans. What's going on over here? James Van der Beek: Yeah, well, you know, you just you put on clean clothes, and then kids spill stuff that you don't even see, or they drool. Usually get like a little drool mark right here on the shoulder from when you hold them, and you pick them up.

You have two. Yeah. What's the best thing about being a dad? James Van der Beek: Oh, man. Um, I mean, honestly, this morning was waking up. Uh. You know.

Well, you play a parent in the show. I don't want to give too much away. There's a line in the show that references L. A. , and it's not putting this town in the greatest light. Do you kind of resonate with that line? About L. A. James Van der Beek: Oh, I don't know. Everybody loves to knock L. A. for being shallow and having no substance, and and, look, I mean, you know, it can be true of any city, I think, or just, you know. I mean, L. A. really is it's a weird city in that it's one of those places where it's all about who you hang out with. In New York, you can go down to a local neighborhood bar or restaurant, you just kind of meet people. You know, and you go places, you nobody hangs out in their apartment 'cause everybody lives in a shoebox, mostly. Right. Whereas L. A. , it's really all about people's houses and people's homes. Like any city, I think, if you surround yourself with good people, it can be a great city. This is a fun sandbox to play in where we are right now.

Yes, definitely. I mean, when people come, do you just feel the energy and they're here for you? James Van der Beek: Totally. It's a different show every night. The audience really is like another character in the show, and how they respond really kinda colors what we do and what we have to do to kinda counteract the reaction, too. There's part of the show where sometimes people applaud against me, which is great. So, then I and then but the the text is there to kind of win them back. It's a really fun dance every night.

Okay, well, let's do a little fun thing now. Since this is called the Gift, James Van der Beek: Yes.

I'm not gonna give it away, anything like that, but I want to know, what's like some of the best gifts you've ever gotten in your life? James Van der Beek: The best gifts. My wife got me a really cool bag, like a man bag that I just put all my crap in.

Is it a man purse? James Van der Beek: No, it doesn't look like a man purse. It looks like a bag. It's not a murse, it's a bag.

A murse? Yes. Is that a real word? James Van der Beek: It is now. Well, man bag actually sounds like something you don't want it to sound like, too.

Yeah, this is P. G. slash G. Say a curse word, then we'll make it P. G. 13 and put a bleep. What's your favorite curse word? So, you gave me one good gift, now give me like the worst gift you've ever gotten. James Van der Beek: The worst gift I've ever gotten. When I was in season like four or five of Dawson's Creek, Sony gave me a candy dish that was addressed to James Vanderhorn. I would say that was probably And then I found out that they'd given the dish to everybody who showed up to their Christmas party in L. A. , which I was not invited to. So, I would say that would probably be the worst gift that I ever gotten.

And they didn't even give you guys special gifts. They gave you the gift that everyone else got. James Van der Beek: Yeah. Yeah. For a hundred episodes, remember, I got a Discman. I got I was I was already on my second iPod by that point, but they gave me a Discman. I was like This actually Sony, they had a I'm totally gonna get in trouble now. They had a habit of giving us like whatever electronic thing that they tried to sell and couldn't. Yeah. So we all got mini disc players.

Mini discs. They were like little CDs. I don't remember those. James Van der Beek: They came out, they tried to come out with them, and they just bombed in the market. So that year as our Christmas gift as a thank you for your hard work, we all got mini disc players. What am I gonna do with this?

Do you still have it? James Van der Beek: No. Oh, God. I probably threw that away or regifted it.

You regift? You're a regifter. James Van der Beek: Oh, yeah.

Dude, you're outing yourself as a regifter. James Van der Beek: Well, yeah. The amount of swag that I get that I have no use for, regift that stuff. It's called recycling. It's environmentally friendly.