James van der Beek: “Dawsson’s Creek” actor suffers from colon cancer

Few celebrities and actors give such open insights into their private lives as James van der Beek. If you want to know more about the main character of the US series “Dawson’s Creek”, just take a look at his Instagram account. There, van der Beek shares everything about himself and his family – videos and pictures from trips and vacations. However, his last post is serious: In it, the actor announces that he has cancer.

“Every year about 2 billion people in the world receive this diagnosis. And I am one of them,” wrote van der Beek under a video with pictures showing him and one of his daughters. In an interview with People magazine, the 47-year-old actor revealed further details. Accordingly, he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He dealt with the diagnosis privately and took steps to deal with it together with his “incredible family”. Van der Beek said he had reason to be optimistic, was in good shape and felt good.

The fact that the actor announced his cancer diagnosis via Instagram was probably rather involuntary. Van der Beek actually initially wanted to tell his story through “People” magazine. But then he found out that a tabloid wanted to get ahead of it. Therefore, he decided to publish the news himself via Instagram. Van der Beek apologized “to all the people in my life that I actually wanted to tell myself.”

James van der Beek and his wife Kimberly van der Beek have six children: Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.

The actor was best known for his leading role in the US teen series “Dawson’s Creek”. It aired for six seasons from 1998 to 2003. Van der Beek played Dawson Leery. He also starred in films such as “Texas Rangers”, “Labor Day”, and “Downsizing”.

Despite his diagnosis, he remains loyal to the film business. He recently appeared in an episode of “Walker.” He will next be seen in the film “The QB and Me,” which will be released at the end of November.