Actor James Van Der Beek is opening up about his journey after revealing to the world that he was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer at the age of 46.
“I’ve been dealing with this pretty much in secret for a while, and in the past, I’ve found it helpful and cathartic to share things publicly,” Van Der Beek,47, told PEOPLE for their week’s cover story. “And I’ve found a lot of support that way. But more than that, I really wanted to raise awareness.”
The “Dawson’s Creek” alum hopes that publicly speaking about his experience will raise awareness about colorectal cancer, a cancer that’s becoming more common in adults under 55.
“That’s one of the reasons I want to talk about it and the reason I’m talking about it so openly,” Van Der Beek said.
Although he does not provide many details about his current health and his stages of recovery, Van Der Beek says he feels good about his current state.
“I’m very cautiously optimistic. I’m in a place of healing, my energy levels are great. When I’ve been out of the woods completely for what feels like a responsible amount of time, I’ll circle back and let you know,” he says. “I have a lot to live for.”
According to recent studies from the American Cancer Society (ACS), colorectal cancer is “swiftly shifting to more advanced disease and younger individuals,” and diagnoses of those under 55 doubled from 11-20% from 1995 to 2019.
“We know rates are increasing in young people, but it’s alarming to see how rapidly the whole patient population is shifting younger, despite shrinking numbers in the overall population,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. “The trend toward more advanced disease in people of all ages is also surprising and should motivate everyone 45 and older to get screened.”
Van Der Beek said he wasn’t expecting this diagnosis in his life because he always took care of his body, and there is no family history of cancer to his knowledge.
“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.
Van Der Beek noticed a change in his bowel movements in the summer of 2023 and blamed it on his diet.
“I thought maybe I needed to stop coffee,” the actor said. “Or maybe not put cream in the coffee. But when I cut that out and it didn’t improve, I thought, ‘All right, I better get this checked out.’”
Van Der Beek said he “felt really good coming out of the anesthesia” following a colonoscopy, and then went into shock when his gastroenterologist told him he had cancer.
Though he didn’t specify, the actor started treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy to fight against the disease.
“This has been a crash course in the mastery of mind, body, and spirit,” he said. “I thought, ‘This is either going to take me out of the body, or it’s going to teach me how to truly live in it.’”
He goes on to say that it’s hard to stay positive in a difficult situation.
“The trickiest thing is there are so many unknowns with cancer,” he explained. “You think, ‘How do I fix this? Is this healing me? Is this hurting me? Is this working? Is it coming back?’ As someone who likes answers, not knowing is one of the hardest things.”
The actor currently lives on a ranch in Texas with his wife, Kimberly, 42, and their six kids: Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel,10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.
His wife showed her support after he issued an apology for keeping his cancer diagnosis a secret for this long from loved ones.
“Apologies to all the people in my life who I’d planned on telling myself. Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline,” Van Der Beek wrote on social media. “But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, pointing us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention.”
Kimberly commented on her husband’s post, writing, “I love you baby ♥️”
Kimberly also shared a throwback photo with her husband and wrote, “We were babies. So much life lived since then. Grateful for it all,” days before he made his public announcement.
