James Van Der Beek (“Dawson”) forced to reveal his battle with cancer

Like many celebrities, he has made his social networks an open book on his daily life. But this chapter, James Van Der Beek would have preferred to keep it to himself a little longer. The 47-year-old American actor, revealed by the series Dawsonannounces suffering from colorectal cancer to the magazine People (new window). “I have faced this diagnosis privately and taken steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family. There is reason to be optimistic and I feel great”he declares. A press release as short as it is rushed, on which the star of the series Dawson (new window)returns to his Instagram account.

“Every year, about two billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I am one of them. There is no recipe for announcing this kind of thing, but I planned to speak at length to the magazine People at some point…to raise awareness and tell my story in my own words. But that plan had to be changed early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to publish the news.”he details this Sunday. James Van Der Beek did not even have time to warn all his loved ones, many of whom learned of his fight against the disease in the press. He thus apologizes “to all the people in his life who he planned to tell himself.”

“Nothing in this process has happened on the timeline I preferred… But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost that points us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention “he adds, philosophically. The actor assures that he follows his treatment closely and seeks to improve “his general state of health with more attention than ever”. Father of six children, James Van Der Beek hammers home “feel good and strong”. He stops there for now, promising “to say more when he is ready.”