{"id":2277898,"date":"2026-02-11T20:42:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2277898"},"modified":"2026-02-11T20:42:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:42:06","slug":"james-van-der-beek-called-cancer-best-thing-to-happen-in-final-interview-before-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/james-van-der-beek-called-cancer-best-thing-to-happen-in-final-interview-before-death\/","title":{"rendered":"James Van Der Beek called cancer \u2018best thing&#8217; to happen in final interview before death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>James Van Der Beek explained why cancer was the \u201cbest thing that ever happened to him\u201d in the actor\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2025\/12\/19\/entertainment\/james-van-der-beek-insists-his-concerning-weight-loss-was-not-cancer-related\/\">final interview<\/a> before <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/11\/celebrity-news\/james-van-der-beek-dead-at-48-after-colorectal-cancer-battle\/\">his death<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Two months before the \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d alum\u2019s passing at 48, he spoke to \u201cToday\u201d show\u2019s Craig Melvin about his positive mindset.<\/p>\n<p>He recalled hearing \u201ca little voice in [his] head\u201d during his August 2023 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2024\/11\/03\/celebrity-news\/james-van-der-beek-diagnosed-with-colorectal-cancer\/\">colorectal cancer diagnosis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>James Van Der Beek spoke about his positive mindset mid-cancer battle in the actor\u2019s final interview in December 2025. <span class=\"credit\">NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d alum told Craig Melvin in December 2025 that the disease was the \u201cbest thing\u201d to happen to him. <span class=\"credit\">@craigmelvinnbc\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201c[It] said, \u2018You\u2019re gonna make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn\u2019t have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it\u2019s gonna add healthy, happy years to your life,&#8217;\u201d Van Der Beek remembered in the December 2025 sitdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think I knew what it was to slow down before,\u201d he noted. \u201cI don\u2019t think I knew what it was to really look at everything I eat, everything I put in my body.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for his \u201cbiggest change,\u201d Va Der Beek credited cancer with his subsequent \u201cjourney of self-love.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The disease led the \u201cPose\u201d alum to \u201cmake changes\u201d in his life, he explained in December 2025. <span class=\"credit\">@craigmelvinnbc\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>In December 2025, Van Der Beek said he \u201cslow[ed] down\u201d and looked closer at his diet. <span class=\"credit\">@craigmelvinnbc\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He told viewers, \u201cI think before cancer, I took all these little, beautiful moments as part of a collective. I was just aware of everything. And now I\u2019m able, much more, to just settle into that exact moment. So presence is really the gift that cancer\u2019s given me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the chat, the \u201cVarsity Blues\u201d star told viewers he was feeling \u201cstrong,\u201d \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbetter than [he] did a couple months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cIt\u2019s been a longer journey than I ever thought it would be. It\u2019s required more of me \u2014 more patience, more discipline, more strength than I knew I had.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Battling cancer gave Van Der Beek the \u201cgift\u201d of self-love, he added in the December 2025 sitdown. <span class=\"credit\">NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>It also showed the \u201cVarsity Blues\u201d star he had \u201cmore patience, more discipline, more strength than [he] knew [he] had.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The previous month, James\u2019 wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, gushed via Instagram that her husband was \u201cbouncing back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 43-year-old, who married James in August 2010, confirmed his passing in a heart-wrenching Instagram post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThere is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity, and the sacredness of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kimberly promised, \u201cThose days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This is a developing story\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source pagesix.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Van Der Beek explained why cancer was the \u201cbest thing that ever happened to him\u201d in the actor\u2019s final interview before his death. Two months before the \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d alum\u2019s passing at 48, he spoke to \u201cToday\u201d show\u2019s Craig Melvin about his positive mindset. He recalled hearing \u201ca little voice in [his] head\u201d during [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2277899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[25538,23383,22062,344976,24003,326689,350582,350134,21913],"class_list":["post-2277898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-actors","tag-cancer","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-interviews","tag-celebrity-news","tag-dawsons-creek","tag-james-van-der-beek","tag-today-show","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/James-Van-Der-Beek-called-cancer-\u2018best-thing-to-happen.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2277900,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277898\/revisions\/2277900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}