The Hollywood star James Van Der Beek, best known for his work on the beloved television series Dawson’s Creek, died on Wednesday morning. He was 48 years-old.
Van Der Beek Passes Away
A rep for the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to TMZ that Van Der Beek’s death was reported to them at 6:44am. No official cause of death has been given at this time. However, Van Der Beek had been battling stage 3 colorectal cancer for over two years.
Van Der Beek’s family took to Instagram to announce his death.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning,” they 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,” their statement continued. “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 his wife Kimberly and by their six children. The couple are parents to daughters Olivia, Annabel, Emilia and Gwendolyn, and sons Joshua and Jeremiah.
Van Der Beek’s Cancer Battle
Van Der Beek revealed his cancer diagnosis to the world in November of 2024.
“I have colorectal cancer,” he told People Magazine 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.
Van Der Beek went on to say that the cancer was discovered during a routine colonoscopy in August of 2023. Though Van Der Beek wasn’t worried going into that appointment, he realized looking back that he had been showing symptoms leading up to it.
“It was just a change in bowel habits,” Van Der Beek explained. “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.”
“I felt really, really good as I was coming out of anesthesia that I had finally done it and looked into it,” he continued. “And as I was coming out of the haze, the gastroenterologist said — in his most pleasant bedside manner — it is cancer.”
Van Der Beek Was ‘Very Healthy’
Van Der Beek went on to talk about how shocked he was to receive this diagnosis.
“I’m very healthy,” he stated. “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.”
While managing his cancer quickly became a “full-time job,” one of the hardest parts about it for Van Der Beek was telling others.
“Telling people required a lot of energy,” he confessed. “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.”
Van Der Beek’s History
Born in Connecticut in 1977, Van Der Beek was best known for playing Dawson Leery on the television drama Dawson’s Creek from 1998 until 2003. He starred in this hit show alongside Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and Michelle Williams. Van Der Beek sadly missed a reunion with the rest of the Dawson’s Creek cast in September of 2025. Instead, he sent in a video message that was pre-recorded.
“I want to stand on that stage and thank every single person in the theater for being here tonight,” Van Der Beek said in the video. “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.”
Van Der Beek made his final public appearance on the TODAY show on December 19. In that interview, Van Der Beek said that 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,” he stated. “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.”
Please join us in saying a prayer for Van Der Beek’s wife and children.
Rest in peace, James Van Der Beek.