“As crushed as I was not being able to go to that ‘Dawson’s Creek’ reunion, my family got to go,” Van Der Beek said. “And I was Zooming in on that night and they got a standing ovation just for taking their seats. And all that love that would have otherwise been directed at me, was directed at my family. It was just one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever gotten to witness. I’m just so grateful to the fans for doing that.”

“I’d lost so much weight because of the stomach virus, yeah,” Van Der Beek. “No, it was not cancer related. Although with cancer everything’s like, ‘Why don’t we super-size that stomach virus?’”

The “Dawson’s Creek” reunion was held in September as featured the show’s original cast together for the first time since the series wrapped in 2003. The event, which raised money for F Cancer and Van Der Beek’s own treatment, featured a table read of the show’s 1998 pilot episode. Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp and more all appeared. Lin-Manuel Miranda jumped in to replace Van Der Beek for the script reading.