When did James Van Der Beek get diagnosed with Cancer? Health updates explored as actor drops out of Dawson's Creek Reunion 

James Van Der Beek has opted out of the Dawson’s Creek reunion due to a stomach virus. He has been replaced by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The 48-year-old actor who played the role of Dawson in the 90s teen drama series was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in August 2023. He publicly opened about his diagnosis in November 2024.

Taking to his Instagram, the actor shared the news on September 21, 2025, and wrote:

“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.”

James Van Der Beek added:

“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.”

Here are more details on his health.

Exploring James Van Der Beek’s health updates

In August 2025, James Van Der Beek shared a health update on his ongoing battle with colorectal cancer in an interview with USA Today. He spoke how the cancer diagnosis changed his perspective on life. He said:

“Cancer's a wild thing. It really does force you to look at your own mortality and decide what's important and decide really what you want to live the rest of your life without. And so, one of the big things for me was recognizing how negative my self-talk was.”

He added:

“When I was getting treatment and away from the beautiful cacophony of six kids and 36 acres and five dogs and a bearded dragon and the beautiful chaos that is my life, in the quiet, I realized how negatively I was talking to myself.”

James Van Der Beek told the outlet that it was then he realised the importance of self-love. In November 2024, he spoke to People magazine, publicly sharing about his illness. He said that he never suspected that he would face such a scary diagnosis at this stage of his life.

Van Der Beek revealed that he has no family history. He always took care of himself through exercise and nutrition. He said:

“I’d always associated cancer with age and with unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles. But I was in amazing cardiovascular shape. I tried to eat healthy or as far as I knew it at the time.”

He said that in summer 2023, he noticed changes in his bowel movements and blamed his coffee intake for it. He said that, then he decided to go for a checkup, and it was then that he came to know of his cancer.

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However, despite his health challenges, James Van Der Beek continues to remain optimistic. He continues to focus on healing and working on his energy levels.

James Van Der Beek is married to his wife, Kimberly. They are parents to six children such as Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, and Jeremiah.

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