Mason Gooding says James Van Der Beek’s last performance in The Gates was a stealth master-class in humility, turning four weeks of overnight shoots into an on-set MBA in how to carry a movie without ego.
While most Scream 7 headlines focus on Ghostface’s latest carnage, Mason Gooding quietly walked off that set and straight into what he now calls “film-school-by-osmosis” alongside James Van Der Beek on the Arkansas-located horror thriller The Gates.
Shot in late 2025—Van Der Beek’s final film before he died at 48 from colorectal cancer—the movie drops in theaters March 13 with a meta-weight no marketing plan could buy: audiences will watch a beloved ’90s teen icon play a villainous pastor while knowing it’s his last breath on screen.
“Super fun” night shoots that doubled as stealth mentorship
Talking to Deadline, Gooding, 29, recalled “four weeks of straight night shoots” that could’ve devolved into caffeine-fueled temper tantrums. Instead, Van Der Beek turned every 3-a.m. call into a seminar on grace.
- Presence over performance: Gooding says Van Der Beek reminded the cast to “remain present,” a note that kept morale high even when the thermometer dipped.
- Generosity as leadership: The Dawson’s Creek alum reportedly memorized everyone’s lines, not just his own, so he could feed cues flawlessly and speed up coverage.
- Ego-free zone: Despite top billing, Van Der Beek insisted on eating crew-craft lunches instead of retreating to a trailer, a small gesture that flattened hierarchy.
“I still felt…educated on the nature of leading a film,” Gooding emphasized, admitting he clocked more life lessons than screen time.
Why this matters for Hollywood’s next leading men
Gooding belongs to a generation of actors—alongside Euphoria’s Angus Cloud memorial chatter and Stranger Things vets aging into adulthood—grappling with rapid stardom minus traditional on-ramp mentorship. Van Der Beek’s crash-course is already reshaping how Gooding approaches Scream 7 press:
- He credits the late actor for teaching him to “lead with grace,” a phrase he’s now paraphrased in three separate interviews.
- That talking point is calculated: it signals to studios he can shoulder a franchise without TMZ flare-ups.
- It also distances him from allegations that younger franchise stars are “difficult,” a whispers campaign that has haunted Scream sets since the 2022 re-launch.
The Gates: a pulpy thriller suddenly laced with legacy
Credit: Lionsgate
The plot sounds like genre comfort food: three college kids (Gooding, Algee Smith, Keith Powers) accidentally drive into an exclusive gated community on party night and witness a murder orchestrated by Van Der Beek’s sinister pastor. Lionsgate’s feb. 18 trailer leans into twisty small-town horror, but the emotional ROI for viewers will be subtextual—watching an actor grapple with mortality while personifying evil.
Industry tracking shows awareness spiking +34% posthumously; exhibitors tell onlytrustedinfo.com they’re scheduling bonus late-night screenings to capture the zeitgeist.
Box-office stakes: can morbid curiosity translate to ticket sales?
- Micro-budget, macro-interest: Produced for under $10 million, the film needs only $25 million domestic to be profitable.
- Competition corridor: It opens against a family animated title and a Liam Neeson actioner—audiences seeking cathartic screams are underserved.
- Memorial halo: Fathom Events-style Q&As with the cast are being discussed; Gooding has already committed to one in L.A.
Advanced tracking suggests a $7-9 million opening—solid for a thriller with no IP—yet every interview Gooding gives swells that number.
What Gooding won’t forget—and fans shouldn’t either
“His personhood is as remarkable…as you think,” Gooding told Deadline, consciously deploying the present tense. Translation: legacy isn’t a post-credits tribute; it’s absorbed behavior, the way Van Der Beek checked on lighting techs by name and texted encouragement when co-stars flubbed takes.
Translation for casting directors: Gooding just signaled he’s low-maintenance, high-gratitude, and coachable—catnip for ensemble franchises and, crucially, future leading-man roles eyeing longevity over quick heat.
Bottom line
The Gates sells itself as a pulpy midnight movie, but its real value is archival: 97 minutes that immortalize how James Van Der Beek pivoted from teen-idol charm to menace, and how Mason Gooding pocketed a private MFA in grace under genre pressure. If the film over-indexes next weekend, expect every 2027 horror casting notice to include the new spec: “must exhibit Van Der Beek-level graciousness.”
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