The video went viral this week. Guest on the show Good Morning America, his first television since the announcement of his cancer, James Van Der Beek (Dawson) could not hold back his tears…
He was left as a young romantic teenager and tortured in Dawson’s Creeka cult series for a whole generation of teenagers between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s. Actor James Van Der Beek has grown up a lot. Now 47 years old, he has found love for a long time, unlike his character who, as I recall, never really managed to conquer the elusive Joey Potter (Katie Holmes).
After a divorce, James Van Der Beek got married in 2010 to the actress Kimberly Brook in real life, with whom he had no less than six children! And the actor has recently needed the support of his entire family, he who announced a month ago that he was suffering from cancer. A revelation made on social networks then in a magazine under duress, while a celebrity tabloid was preparing to publish the sad news.
The one who broke many hearts 20 years ago was guest on Good Morning America last Tuesday, to give more news on his health. His first TV interview since revealing the terrible diagnosis. “Physically, I’m doing very well. I feel really good emotionally. You know, that’s already a lot,” he reassured.
James Van Der Beek also told how he was “shocked” by the diagnosis, that of colorectal cancer, when he thought he was in perfect health. Alerted by irregular stools, he says he first suspected a simple overconsumption of coffee, before a colonoscopy which proved relentless. “I was in excellent cardiovascular shape. I ate what I thought was healthy and had a whole program […] for the weeks and months to come”, he declared, before moving on to this “nightmare” which had turned everything upside down.
Since then, the actor spends about “90% of the time” focusing on the changes he can make to his life and the lives of others that he would never have thought of before. The remaining 10% he admits to being “crying and terrified.” The actor also paid tribute to his wife Kimberly and their children Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah, before breaking down and shedding a few tears.
“Some of them are very open about their fears and talk about them and others manifest them in different ways, or become very silent,” he detailed about his children, with a noted touch of humor. : “If I could convince them to stop talking about ‘butt cancer,’ I would be delighted. My six-year-old son asks me almost every other day: ‘Daddy, how is your butt cancer?'” A note from lightness which also reflects the difficulty of speaking about this type of cancer, too often derided.
Colorectal cancer begins in the colon or rectum, both of which are part of the large intestine. In 2023, more than 47,000 new cases will be diagnosed in France. In the United States more than 140,000 cases are diagnosed each year.