James Van Der Beek Dies at 48 After Cancer Battle
James Van Der Beek, the actor who rose to fame as Dawson Leery on the 1990s teen drama Dawson’s Creek, has died at 48 after a battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer.
His wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, announced his death in a message shared on Instagram.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning,” Kimberly wrote. “He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
Van Der Beek is survived by Kimberly and their six children: daughters Olivia, 15, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9½, and Gwendolyn, 7, and sons Joshua, 13, and Jeremiah, 4.
His Cancer Diagnosis
Van Der Beek publicly revealed in November 2024 that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer. He first shared the news in an interview, explaining that he had been privately managing the illness with the support of his family.
“I have colorectal cancer,” he said at the time. “I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family.”
“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” he added.
The cancer was discovered after a routine colonoscopy in August 2023. Looking back, he acknowledged subtle warning signs.
“It was just a change in bowel habits,” he said. “I thought, I probably need to change my diet a little bit. Maybe I need to stop coffee. Maybe I need to not put cream in the coffee. And then I finally took that out of the diet, and it didn't improve, and I thought, all right, I better go get this checked out.”
After the procedure, he recalled hearing the diagnosis from his doctor.
“I felt really, really good as I was coming out of anesthesia that I had finally done it and looked into it,” he said. “And as I was coming out of the haze, the gastroenterologist said — in his most pleasant bedside manner — it is cancer.”
He said he went into shock in that moment.
“I’m very healthy,” he said. “I was in amazing cardiovascular shape. I tried to eat healthy as much as I could, as far as I knew at the time. Though I've since learned a lot about what actually eating healthy is.”
Living With the Diagnosis
Van Der Beek described the experience of having cancer as all-consuming.
Although he called it a “full-time job” to manage appointments, insurance and treatment decisions, he said sharing the diagnosis was one of the hardest parts.
“Telling people required a lot of energy,” he said. “I’m an empath. I like to take care of everybody. I’m a provider, and especially at that point, I was trying to be Superman and be all things to all people and be a dad and a provider. And so to have to tell people and my father and my siblings and my kids, it was really tricky.”
The response from friends and colleagues deeply moved him.
“It was amazing,” he said. “I’m never the person who asked for any help — ever. It’s not in my DNA. And I thought that was a fine way to be until cancer. The way friends showed up was such a beautiful experience — and I would never have otherwise seen how much people care about me.”
Despite the seriousness of his condition, Van Der Beek remained reflective and hopeful.
“I really feel like this is going to be the biggest life redirect,” he said in November 2024, “and I'm going to make changes that I never would've made otherwise. That I'm going to look back on in a year or five years, 30 years from now and say, ‘Thank God that happened.’”
“I’ve really been so blessed with my wife and kids,” he added. “I’ve got a lot to live for, and it’s a beautiful life.”
Final Public Appearance
Van Der Beek made his final public appearance in a Dec. 19 interview with Today’s Craig Melvin. At the time, he said he was feeling “much, much better than I did a couple months ago.”
“It’s been a longer journey than I ever thought it would be. 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 had missed a Dawson’s Creek cast reunion event earlier that fall due to illness but appeared via pre-recorded video.
“I want to stand on that stage and thank every single person in the theater for being here tonight. From the cast to the crew to everybody who’s doing anything and has been so generous, and especially every single last one of you – you are the best fans in the world,” he said.
Speaking later about that moment, he said, “As crushed as I was not being able to go to that Dawson’s Creek reunion, my family got to go. And I was Zooming in on that night and they got a standing ovation just for taking their seats.”
“All that love that would have otherwise been directed at me, was directed at my family. It was just one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever gotten to witness. I’m just so grateful to the fans for doing that.”
Career and Legacy
Born March 8, 1977, in Connecticut, Van Der Beek developed a love for acting in high school theater. After briefly attending Duke University, he left to pursue acting full-time.
He landed the lead role in Dawson’s Creek, which ran for six seasons from 1998 to 2003 and became a defining teen drama of its era. The show explored themes of friendship, romance and identity in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts.
Beyond Dawson’s Creek, Van Der Beek appeared in Varsity Blues, How I Met Your Mother, Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 and numerous other film and television projects. In 2024, he appeared in The Real Full Monty to raise awareness for cancer testing and research.
In November 2025, Van Der Beek announced he would be auctioning items from Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues in an effort to assist with costs associated with his cancer treatment.
A Devoted Father
Van Der Beek frequently spoke about his gratitude for fatherhood.
“I really don’t think of myself as having any ownership over any of my children,” he said. “I just feel like we won the great cosmic lottery that these souls chose to have us as their parents.”
“It's okay to not know. It's okay to hit the depths of despair,” he said during his 2024 cover interview. “And that is actually maybe the point of it all… the hero's journey is never a straight line toward ascendance.”
James Van Der Beek spent decades in the public eye, evolving from teen heartthrob to character actor to outspoken advocate for cancer awareness. He died at 48, surrounded by family, leaving behind a body of work and a legacy defined not only by fame but by resilience.
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