The 48-year-old actor announced in November 2024 that he was battling stage 3 colorectal cancer.
“Dawson Creek” star James van der Beek shared a positive health update just over four months after revealing that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer.
Van der Beek, who announced the health battle in November 2024, told show host Billy Bush that he was preparing to shoot a sequel to the 2024 film “Sidelined: The QB and Me,” starring Noah Beck and Siena Agdon.
According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer is developing in the large intestine, particularly in the colon or rectum. Like other cancers, the disease ranges on a scale between 0 and 4, with stage 3 indicating that cancer cells spread to one or more nearby lymph nodes, reported the city of Hope Cancer Center.
Earlier this month, van der Beek shared six children with his wife, Kimberly, who has been with nearly 15 years.
Van Der Beek said when he was young, his identity was primarily focused on his acting career. But his work never met him.
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“Then I became a husband and it got much better,” he added, saying that being a father was the “ultimate” achievement.
“I was able to define myself as loving, capable, strong, supportive, husband, father, provider, steward in a land so lucky we can live,” van der Biek said.
“And this year I had to see my death rate in my eyes. I had to come towards my nose along with death.
For cancer treatment, van der Beek said he cannot become a useful husband, father or provider. “I faced a question. If I’m just a man who’s too thin and weak, just being alone in an apartment with cancer, what am I?” he said.
“And then I meditated and the answer has come. I deserve God’s love just because it exists. And if I deserve God’s love, then I should not be worthy of my own? And the same applies to you.”
Kimberly Brook (L), James van dervik (R), and the family at the 7th Santa Secret Workshop, which benefits LA Family Housing in Andaz, West Hollywood, California, on December 2, 2017. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images at Santa’s Secret Workshop 2017
The actor married Kimberly Brook in August 2010. They continued to welcome their daughter, Olivia, 14. Annabelle, 11; Emilia, 8; and Gwendolyn, 6; sons Joshua, 13; and Jeremiah, 3. In 2020, the couple moved their family from Los Angeles, California to Austin, Texas, with better connections with nature and more space for their six children.
Van Der Beek began acting in the early 1990s, playing roles in “Clarissa explains it all,” “The World Changes,” “Family Alien,” and other shows.
In 1998 he was cast in the honorable role in the drama series “Dawson’s Creek” and played the character Dawson Leery, six seasons until the conclusion of the show’s 2003 show.
His film credits include Varsity Blues (1999), Scary Movie (2000), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), The Rules of Attraction (2002), and Sea Oak (2017).
Most recently, van der Beek performed in Fox’s reality singing competition series, “The Masked Singer.” The show features a variety of celebrities competing in elaborate costumes as panels of judges, and audiences seeking to speculate on their identity.
Speaking to the actor, the actor said his children could see him perform and joined him on stage.
“To make everything possible and make your kids think they’re cool at their age. I’m counting days. I’m still counting their blessings that I think are cool.
Van der Beek said he enjoyed playing secrets at the show.
“Everything I was going through – and I just published a health issue I was dealing with, and it was actually really beautiful to put on a mask and be able to connect with the audience without being part of the equation.”
