James Van Der Beek illness: Dawson's Creek actor gives update on cancer battle as he describes it as a 'gift'

The 48-year-old star, best known for his role as titular character Dawson Leery in hit 1990s teen drama Dawson’s Creek has described his health battle as “a gift”.

In an interview on the Today show on Friday December 19, the actor said he’s feeling “much, much better than [he] did a couple months ago.” He also thanked his fans for the support they have shown him since he revealed his diagnosis in November 2024.

He added: “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. But I feel good.”

He went on to say that his experience has changed his life, explaing that he found out about his stage-three colorectal-cancer diagnosis while he was coming round from anesthesia after having a colonoscopy. “As soon as I heard the news, I thought ‘this is going to be the best thing that ever happened to me,’” he said.

“I had this little voice in my head that said ‘you’re going to make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn’t have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it’s going to add healthy, happy years to your life.’”

The actor didn’t elaborate on exactly what changes he has made but said he didn’t know “what it was to slow down before” or to “really look at everything [he] eat[s], everything [he] put[s] in [his] body.”

He further said his wife film producer Kimberly Van Der Beek, who he has been married to since 2010, and their six children have helped him to stay positive in the past 13 months. “I would not be alive if it weren’t for my wife,” he said.

“She just has stepped up as a caretaker, as a nurse, as head of the household. And then my kids, as much as I want to shield them from seeing me in any kind of pain or just stress — I wanted to be Superman, Super Dad — you realise that resilience is not only something that they have and can build, but it’s the best thing for them.”

James revealed last year that he had bowel cancer and was “taking steps to resolve it”. He told People at the time that he had also been prioritising time with his wife Kimberly and their six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.

He later acknowledged his diagnosis on an Instagram post to his 1.6 million followers, where he apologised to his loved ones who had learned about his cancer through the press.

He has given fans regular updates on his health via press interviews and social media updates. In an exclusive interview to Parade in August he urged people to get screened regularly.

"One of the things I really want to get across to people is that you don’t need symptoms to start getting screened,” he said. “Put it on your radar, talk to your doctor. At the time that I got diagnosed, I was in amazing cardiovascular shape. I was doing sauna, cold plunge, working out, all the things and I had full-blown stage three cancer and didn’t know it."

He later said that he had noticed changes in his bowel habits, but he thought this was due to his coffee consumption. It turned out to by symptom of his cancer.

According to the NHS, symptoms of bowel cancer may include: changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you, needing to poo more or less often than usual for you, blood in your poo, which may look red or black, bleeding from your bottom, often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet, tummy pain, a lump in your tummy, bloating, losing weight without trying and feeling very tired or short of breath.