James Van Der Beek is sharing an update on his cancer battle in an emotional new Today show interview.
“I feel a little bit better every month. It’s required more of me — more patience, more discipline. More strength than I knew I had. I knew I was strong, I didn’t know I was this strong,” the 48-year-old actor shared in a sit-down with Craig Melvin, which aired Friday, December 19.
Looking back on the moment he received his diagnosis, Van Der Beek recalled coming out of a “haze” from anesthesia following his colonoscopy.
“I went into shock. But you know, one of the things I was really lucky about was as soon as I heard the news, I thought, ‘This is gonna be the best thing to ever happen to me.’ … I had this little voice in my head that said, ‘You’re gonna make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn’t have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it’s gonna add healthy, happy years to your life,’” he said.
According to Van Der Beek, fighting cancer has taught him some valuable lessons. “I don’t think I knew what it was to slow down before … to really look at everything I eat, everything I put in my body. Really, the biggest change I’d say would be this journey of self-love. What I realized was, I’m still worthy of love. My own love, God’s love,” he said.
Faith has become an important factor in Van Der Beek’s life. “Before cancer, God was something I tried to fit into my life as much as possible,” he explained. “After cancer, I feel like a connection to God, whatever that is, is kind of the whole point of this exercise on this planet.”
Fans previously got a glimpse of the Dawson’s Creek alum posing with Melvin in photos shared via Instagram on Wednesday, December 17. “Spent the day in TX on James Van Der Beek’s ranch (@vanderjames) Overcast and dreary outside but James is quite the ray of positivity these days. It was refreshing and inspiring,” Melvin’s caption read. “We talked about where he is on his journey, the importance of cancer screenings, and how he’s finding joy in family and faith. Our convo coming up Friday am on @todayshow.”
Van Der Beek has been battling colorectal cancer, a diagnosis he revealed in November 2024.
“I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,” the actor wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “I’m in a good place and feeling strong. It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready. … Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support.”
Since then, Van Der Beek has kept his fans updated on his progress. His wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and their six children — Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 4 — have also been a source of support throughout his health battle.
“I would not be alive were it not for my wife,” he said on Friday. “She has just stepped up as a caretaker, as a nurse, as head of the household. And then the kids, as much as I want to shield them from them seeing me in any kind of pain … you realize that resilience is not only something they have and can build, but is the best thing for them.”
During a separate Today appearance in July, James noted that it’s important to include his kids on his cancer journey, which is every bit their own journey. “I have kids making me tea. ‘Dad, what do you need?’ There’s been a lot of beauty that’s come out of it,” he said, “but I would love to save everybody [from] this journey, which is why I’m saying get screened.”
Several months later, the cast of Dawson’s Creek reunited to raise money for F Cancer, but James pulled out of the live reading at the last minute. He was replaced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who James joked was “ridiculously overqualified” for the gig.
“This is the evening I’d been looking forward to MOST since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together, way back in January… So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment,” he wrote via Instagram in September. “Despite every effort … I won’t get to be there. I won’t get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most.”
Fans attending the event in New York City still got a special message from James through a prerecorded video. James got emotional on Friday while reflecting on how his family was received at the big event.
“As crushed as I was to not be able to go to that Dawson’s Creek reunion, my family got to go … and they got a standing ovation just for taking their seats,” he told Melvin. “And all that love that would’ve otherwise been directed at me, was directed at my family. It was one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever gotten to witness. I’m just so grateful to the fans for doing that.”
Despite his “extreme” diagnosis, James is looking to the future with hope, noting on Friday, “I think it changes everything. It’ll change the way I live for the rest of my life. … Presence, I think, is really the gift that cancer’s given me.”
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