by Chelsea StewartBuzzFeedBuzzFeed Staff Dawson's Creek actor James Van Der Beek has died at 48, his wife confirmed in a statement. Adam Knott / Getty Images James had previously battled colorectal cancer - a diagnosis he first shared in 2024. In an interview from last December, he described the experience as "the wildest, hardest journey I've ever had in this lifetime. It's required more patience, more discipline, more strength than I knew I had, quite frankly. But there's also been a lot of beauty in it.