James Van Der Beek has opened up about his sudden weight loss after his virtual appearance at the Dawson’s Creek reunion in September drew concern from fans.
The actor appeared on the Today show Friday, a week after he dropped out of his scheduled slot on the NBC morning show due to contracting conjunctivitis from his daughter.
Speaking to Today’s Craig Melvin, Van Der Beek — who announced his diagnosis with stage three colorectal cancer in November last year — revealed his absence from the teen drama reunion was “not cancer-related.”
The actor said he was “hit with some stomach bugs,” which caused him to lose weight, while admitting cancer amplifies other illnesses.
“The hardest part has been the patience this has required, as I’ll, say, make a plan and then not be able to follow through on it,” Van Der Beek said in the interview at his ranch in Texas.
“I feel much, much better than I did a couple months ago,” Van Der Beek said in the interview at his ranch in Texas.
“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 told Melvin.
Elsewhere in the interview, the actor maintained that cancer was “the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I don’t think that I knew what it was to slow down before,” he said. “The biggest change would be this journey of self-love. What I realized was that I was worthy of love.”
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Van Der Beek said he is still undergoing cancer treatment and “trying a bunch of stuff,” though he didn’t specify which therapies he has received
Last month, Kimberly commented on a photo of her husband wearing his jersey from the 1999 film Varsity Blues, saying he was “bouncing back.”
Best known for playing the titular Dawson Leery on beloved teen drama Dawson’s Creek from 1998 to 2003, Van Der Beek missed a live read-through of the series’ pilot episode at the September reunion.
In his virtual appearance, he thanked fans for buying tickets to the fundraising event, which his co-star Michelle Williams had organized to support him.