Dawsons Creek Star Earned Nothing from Reruns

A clause in 's Dawson's Creek contract meant he received no money from reruns of his hit show, it has been revealed.

The actor after a two-year battle with colorectal .

when friends set up a GoFundMe page to help support his widow Kimberly and their six children, who are at risk of losing their Texan home.

Fans and friends have so far raised over $1.2million in just seven hours after it was revealed that 'the costs of James's medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds.'

Whilst James shot to fame with his lead role in Dawson's Creek, which ran for six seasons on the WB Network between 1998 and 2003, he said that he did not earn any money from reruns or streaming deals.

'There was no residual money,' he told Today in 2012. 'I was 20. It was a bad contract. I saw almost nothing from that.'

It's been reported that James and his co-stars Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams started out making $35,000 per episode of Dawson's Creek, and as the show's success grew they banked as much as $175,000 per episode in the final season.

Whilst their salaries have never been confirmed, James' co-star Joshua did once boast at the age of 19 how he 'would make more money doing four episodes of Dawson's Creek than most of my friends' parents made in a year.'

But a lack of residuals would have severely dented the cast's prospects of a long-term income from the show. In contrast it's been widely reported that the main cast members of another nineties show Friends make $20 million a year from residuals and reruns.

James made the most of his teen idol years, previously revealing how he worked non stop whilst Dawson's Creek aired, starring in movies like Varsity Blues and Texas Rangers on his breaks from filming.

'From the time I was 20 to 26, it was a pretty crazy time. I was shooting during the week, doing photo shoots on the weekends, shooting movies during the hiatus, then coming right back and doing the show,' he explained. 

'Being the lead of the show and working a lot of hours—all good stuff, a tremendous education, incredible opportunity, it changed my life—it was a marathon, and by the end of it I was pretty beat.'

James ended up taking time off after Dawson's wrapped in 2003 due to burnout but admitted that his early success went to his head when it came to chasing other roles.

'You are incredibly fortunate whatever success falls on you, which is what happened with me,' he told Today in 2012. 

'But as soon as that happens, I think there is a tendency to feel like you have something to lose. Or something to protect. That can often lead to taking yourself a little too seriously.'

James is survived by his wife Kimberly and their six children: Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, nine, Gwendolyn, seven, and Jeremiah, four