James Van Der Beek had a "beautiful plan" for a Dawson's Creek reboot before his death

Kevin told Esquire: "James and I talked about rebooting Dawson's Creek several times. He wanted to do it. And in fact, there was a moment where he was going to write it - and he had a really great idea for it."

Kevin revealed that the revival concept was inspired by the hit drama series This Is Us, and that James had been keen to return to the fictional world of Capeside.

The screenwriter - who created Dawson's Creek, which also starred Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams and Joshua Jackson - explained: "He had a beautiful plan. Then I think he got on a show and everybody got busy. It never happened. But there was a lot of talk about it."

Kevin believes that James was the very embodiment of the character he played so memorably on screen.

He recalled: "He was Dawson. He was always questioning every script! He was always questioning the lines, 'Why am I saying this? Why am I doing that?'"

Kevin also revealed that studio bosses were initially reluctant to cast James in the role - but he fought to make it happen.

He said: "I can remember him coming in to audition. And I was like, 'Are you crazy? What's wrong with you? That's Dawson. Trust me.'"

Despite never returning to the show itself, Kevin and James remained close until the very end - something he credited to James' wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek.

Kevin shared: "Kimberly was wonderful about that. She was very in touch."

Meanwhile, Dawson's Creek co-star Busy Philipps previously described James as "one in a billion" following his death.

Busy, 46 - who played Audrey Liddell during the show's final two seasons - wrote on social media: "My heart is deeply hurting for all of us today. James Van Der Beek was one in a billion and he will be forever missed."