James Van Der Beek selling ‘Varsity Blues’ merch to afford ‘expensive’ cancer treatment costs

<p>James Van Der Beek is doing his part to make cancer treatment more affordable for himself and others. The 47-year-old actor, who revealed his colorectal cancer diagnosis last month, announced over the weekend that he’s selling merch from his 1999 movie “Varsity Blues” to raise money for cancer treatment costs, including his own . Van Der Beek wore a jersey with the last name of his character, Jonathan “Mox” Moxon, written on it in his Instagram post . “Merch drop! Excited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of #VarsityBlues with a limited edition #4 Moxon jersey—each one personally autographed by me. Grab yours now at the link in my bio or head over to JVDB.Shop,” he wrote. “100% of my net proceeds will go to families recovering from the financial burden of cancer (including my own 😇),” Van Der Beek added. The “Dawson’s Creek” alum also posted the announcement on his Instagram Stories. “Order now & get a signed one in time for Christmas,” he wrote, adding, “#CancerIsExpensive ❤️.” Van Der Beek played the backup quarterback in the coming-of age sports film about a small-town high school football team in Texas. Jon Voight, Paul Walker, Ali Larter, Amy Smart, Ron Lester and Scott Caan also starred in the movie. Van Der Beek announced that he’s battling stage 3 colorectal cancer in an interview with People at the beginning of November. “The trickiest thing is there are so many unknowns with cancer,” he told the outlet. “You think, ‘How do I fix this? Is this healing me? Is this hurting me? Is this working? Is it coming back?’ As someone who likes answers, not knowing is one of the hardest things.” The father of six said he got his diagnosis after noticing a change in bowel habits and then getting a colonoscopy. “I felt really good coming out of anesthesia, that I’d finally done it,” he explained. “Then the gastroenterologist said — in his most pleasant bedside manner — that it was cancer. I think I went into shock.” Van Der Beek didn’t share what stages of recovery or remission he’s in, but he did say he’s “very cautiously optimistic” about his cancer battle. The “Dancing with the Stars” alum also said that he went public with his diagnosis after keeping it a secret at first because he “really wanted to raise awareness.” Van Der Beek’s wife, Kimberly, has shown the actor support since his diagnosis. The couple, who have been married since 2010 and have six kids, currently live in Texas after moving from Los Angeles in 2020.</p>