United Kingdom, Sept. 24 -- Lin-Manuel Miranda has joked standing in for James Van Der Beek fell under his "godfather" duties.

The theatre legend was a last minute replacement for the Dawson's Creek actor - who is battling stage 3 colorectal cancer - at the cast reunion event on Monday (22.09.25) as the 48-year-old star was battling "two stomach viruses".

In an Instagram post reflecting on the emotional charity event, Lin-Manuel revealed how his friend Thomas Kail - who directed Hamilton and is married to Michelle Williams - brought him on board as a last minute favour.

He wrote: "Kail called over the weekend: @vanderjames caught a virus and was unable to travel to NY for the Dawson's Creek reunion Monday.

"Now I'm godfather to Tommy ...