Dawson's Creek star JAMES VAN DER BEEK has been axed from new movie STORYTELLING (2001) because of a graphic sex scene featuring his character. Director TODD SOLONDZ's film has come under fire for one disturbing near-rape scene featuring SELMA BLAIR that had to be heavily edited to avoid earning the film a dreaded N-17 adult rating.

And rather than editing another sex scene featuring Van Der Beek, solondz has chosen to cut his character and his storyline from the film altogether. Solondz says, "You write the script and think it's about X, you shoot it and you think it's about Y, and then you go into the editing room and it turns into Z. It happens to me with every movie. "

Van Der Beek has declined to comment on being axed from the film but actress Blair says that the actors were unaware that severe edits were possible. She says, "I think Todd just hangs the moon, but we had no idea. I had a much bigger part, people had amazing performances cut completely: Van Der Beek, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Adam Hann-Byrd. It must have been heartbreaking to cast them aside. "

Source: WENN