James Van Der Beek was set to join a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion reading for a charity event on September 22. He was supposed to read the pilot with the original cast. However, he revealed he had to bow out after catching two stomach viruses. Van Der Beek said he was “gutted” to miss it, especially as he continues to recover from cancer.
He shared on Instagram that he had been looking forward to the evening since Michelle Williams first organized it in January. He said it broke his heart not to stand on stage and thank the audience for supporting him and the fight against cancer.
Lin-Manuel Miranda will replace him for the reading. Van Der Beek called Miranda a “ridiculously overqualified replacement” and joked that his kids would see him as an upgrade. He added that Miranda already knows how to get to the theater, which is convenient.
Van Der Beek was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in August 2023. He only revealed his diagnosis publicly about a year later. He told Healthline that there were no obvious warning signs and that he was in great shape at the time. He didn’t realize he was past the age for screenings, thinking the recommended age was still 50 instead of 45.
The actor, now 48, has six children with his wife Kimberly. After appearing as Griffin on “The Masked Singer,” Van Der Beek said he is now in a “healing phase” and feels like he can see the finish line in his recovery.
