James Van Der Beek urged fans not to ignore one specific colorectal cancer symptom before his death on Wednesday, February 11, at age 48. In a resurfaced interview from November 2024, Van Der Beek revealed to People that there was one indicator for his eventual stage III colorectal cancer he didn't think much of when it first happened. "It was just a change in bowel habits," he said while speaking about his diagnosis publicly for the first time. "I thought, I probably need to change my diet a little bit. Maybe I need to stop [drinking] coffee. Maybe I need to not put cream in the coffee.