James Van Der Beek chokes up discussing his wife's support after cancer diagnosis

James Van Der Beek is leaning on his family's support amid his battle with cancer.

The "Dawson's Creek" star, 47, got choked up in a "Good Morning America" interview Tuesday while discussing how his wife has been by his side since he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last year.

"She's been amazing," he said. "She's really telling me what unconditional love is, and I'm someone who has always in the past tried to do everything for everybody and never asked for help myself, and this has put me in a position of having to ask for help and having to receive help.

"The beautiful blessing of that has been seeing how many people in my life have shown up."

Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly Brook, have been married since 2010, and they share six children.

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The actor told "GMA" his kids have all responded differently to his cancer diagnosis, with some being "very outward with their fears," while for others, "it manifests in other ways." But the situation has provided an "opportunity for connection" and to "really go deep with them" about how they're feeling, he said.

"It's really scary for them. They had a very close friend pass from an incredibly rare brain tumor at the same time, so there was a lot of cancer talk flying around, and a lot of it was really scary. But they're doing great."

Van Der Beek shared in an interview with People in November that he was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in August 2023. He told the outlet he had been "privately dealing with this diagnosis" and "taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family," adding, "There's reason for optimism, and I'm feeling good."

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In a longer interview with People, the "Varsity Blues" star praised his "extraordinary" wife and said he would not want to trade places with her since she has had to watch him battle cancer.

Colorectal cancer develops from polyps in the inner lining of the colon, and it can spread to other areas of the body if untreated, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

On "GMA," Van Der Beek shared that receiving his diagnosis at first "felt like a nightmare that I couldn't quite wake up from." He said that about 90% of the time, he has felt that the cancer would require him to make changes to his lifestyle that would make him ultimately grateful in 30 years that the diagnosis happened.

"But 10% of the time, I was a sobbing, terrified mess, which I feel like is a pretty good percentage," he said.

The actor recently told fans on Instagram that he would be selling lookalike autographed jerseys from the 1999 movie "Varsity Blues," with 100% of the proceeds going "to families recovering from the financial burden of cancer (including my own)."

Contributing: Edward Segarra and Jay Stahl

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: James Van Der Beek talks cancer battle, tears up about wife's support