James Van Der Beek Warned of the 1 Telling Cancer Symptom He Had Months Before His Death: ‘I Had No Idea… ‘
The death of James Van Der Beek at 48 has left Hollywood shaken. The actor, better known for Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues, passed away on February 11 from colorectal cancer. The actor had originally announced his diagnosis in November 2024.
Van Der Beek spoke to Healthline last August about his health, telling the outlet that “there wasn’t any red flag or something glaring” that pointed to him having cancer. “I was healthy. I was doing the cold plunge,” he said. “I was in amazing cardiovascular shape, and I had stage 3 cancer, and I had no idea.”
But what were the first signs of the disease?
What Were James Van Der Beek Colorectal Cancer Symptoms?
The actor said in the interview that he noticed a change in bowel movements, something he thought was related to his coffee consumption, but that has been identified as a leading sign of this type of cancer, and he admitted that before his diagnosis, he didn’t even know it was a possibility. “Before my diagnosis, I didn’t know much about colorectal cancer,” Van Der Beek said. “I didn’t even realize the screening age [had] dropped to 45; I thought it was still 50.”
Van Der Beek finally underwent a colonoscopy, which revealed his colon cancer.
Changes in bowel habits are one of the primary red flags for colorectal cancer, according to the CDC. Other symptoms include blood in or on your stool, diarrhea, constipation, or feeling that the bowel does not empty all the way, unexplained weight loss, and abdominal pain, aches, or cramps that don’t go away.
The CDC also says that colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer death and the second most common cause of cancer mortality.
In a more recent interview with Today in December 2025, Van Der Beek had said he was feeling better. “I feel much, much better than I did a couple months ago,” he said. “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 also revealed he decided to get a colonoscopy after feeling like something was “off” in his body, back in 2023. He was informed he had cancer right away, as he was coming off the anesthetic. “I went into shock,” he said. “I really don’t think I knew what to do. Neither did my wife. And we drove home in silence. And part of me wanted to panic. Part of me wanted to just freak out. But then another part of my brain was like, ‘You don’t know enough yet.’”
He added, “One of the things I was really lucky about was when I heard the news, I was like, ‘This is gonna be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’ I had this little voice in my head that said, ‘You’re gonna make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn’t have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it’s gonna add healthy, happy years to your life.’”
