More than a year after going public with his Stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis, James Van Der Beek is looking to his future with optimism.
On Friday, Van Der Beek gave an emotional interview to NBC’s “Today” in which he addressed fans’ concerns over his appearance at a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion event that took place in September.
The actor had been slated to take part in a live table reading of the teen drama series’ pilot episode with co-stars Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams, but had to drop out due to two different stomach viruses. Instead, he expressed his regrets for his absence with a pre-recorded video in which he appeared gaunt.
In his “Today” chat, Van Der Beek said his dramatic weight loss was “not cancer-related,” but acknowledged that his overall health had impacted his experience with the virus.
“I’d lost so much weight because of the stomach virus,” he explained. “Although, with cancer, everything’s like, ‘Why don’t we super-size that stomach virus?’”
