‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star Reveals Heartbreaking Diagnosis

Actor James Van Der Beek recently revealed his colorectal cancer diagnosis, explaining he had been “dealing with this privately” while focusing on treatment and his overall health. A tabloid forced him to go public sooner than planned, leading him to apologize to loved ones who learned through the media. Join us in this slideshow as we take a closer look at Van Der Beek’s announcement.

Van Der Beek wrote, “‘It is cancer…’ Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them.”

Van Der Beek added that he had been “dealing with this privately,” focusing on “getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before.”

Van Der Beek said, “Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline… But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, pointing us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention.”

Van Der Beek told his castmates during rehearsals for “The Real Full Monty,” a cancer awareness special. He shared that weeks earlier, he might not have been able to join due to his health. The cast, including Bruno Tonioli, Taye Diggs, and Tyler Posey, praised Van Der Beek’s courage.

Tonioli said, “I admired him so much, the positive attitude, the strength of character is totally inspiring and amazing. Really amazing.”

Tonioli’s involvement was reportedly personal, motivated by the loss of his “Dancing with the Stars” colleague Len Goodman to prostate cancer in 2023. The cast reflected on how cancer had touched their lives, making the project deeply meaningful. Tonioli added that “people understand how important this is. All my ‘Dancing with the Stars’ team, my friends because it is a great show, but the message is important and everybody was totally supportive.”

Anthony Anderson joked about explaining the show’s concept to friends, saying it gave him a sense of purpose to discuss its message. Anderson said, “I find myself explaining what we did on ‘The Real Full Monty’ now that we’re promoting it to my friends and family. Because when we were doing it, not too many people knew what was going on or what I was doing.”

Anderson added, “But now they see the advertisements for and they’re like, ‘Yeah, what’s the show you’re doing? What’s this movie?’ I was like, ‘It’s not a movie, I’m naked!’ And I enjoy explaining it to them now because it gives me more of a sense of purpose to really be talking about the messaging behind everything.”

“The Real Full Monty,” inspired by the 1997 film, aims to raise awareness for cancer screenings through a recreation of the movie’s striptease finale. Tonioli said, “I think we’re all on the same page in a way, because we’ve all been affected by family, friends by this personally.”

Tonioli said, “So when you asked me, it’s definitely, definitely because, [we] lost Len,” adding, “it will make a difference. People will watch this, and they will go out there and get checked. And it’s very, very important.”