The “Dawson’s Creek” actor died at 48 in February after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler reveals her final words to friend James Van Der Beek days before his death

The "Dawson's Creek" actor died at 48 in February after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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April 22, 2026 12:57 p.m. ET

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Jamie Lynn Sigler; James Van Der Beek. Credit:

Mike Coppola/Getty; Tommaso Boddi/Getty

- Jamie-Lynn Sigler is opening up about her final conversation with her friend James Van Der Beek, who died at 48 in February.

- The actors, who left Hollywood and moved to Austin, bonded over their respective health journeys.

- Sigler said she and Van Der Beek had "many long conversations" about "faith and acceptance."**

Jamie-Lynn Sigler is looking back at her final conversation with James Van Der Beek.

Sigler opened up about her friendship with the late *Dawson's Creek *star in a cover story with *Us Weekly. *She and Van Der Beek grew close in his final years after they both moved to Austin, Texas.* *The actors were also able to bond over their respective health journeys.

Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023, only sharing it publicly in November 2024. Sigler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 20 while she was working on *The Sopranos*. She revealed her diagnosis in a 2017 interview with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“I’m devastated that my friend is no longer here, you know?” Sigler said. “I think we all knew that there was so much more he could have done, but also, in his passing, to see how loved and celebrated he is and will always be. I don’t think he even knew that.”**

James Van Der Beek in Los Angeles in November 2024.

JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

Sigler also opened up about the "many long conversations" they had about "faith and acceptance," which she learned about from the late actor. "I think really stepping into my acceptance and faith happened here in Austin, and with him, too. And being honest about pain and being brave in the face of it,” she admitted.

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“We had a lot of like, ‘I see you’ moments, where we would push ourselves past maybe what our body is telling us it wants to do, because we want to be present in these moments. We don’t want to miss out on these moments with our friends or our children, and we shared many long eye contact moments of that.”**

Silger “always felt very held and seen” by the late actor. “Our dream was always that him and I were going to dance together one day, and I got to see him a few days before he passed, and sit at his bedside, and I told him, ‘You wait for me, because we’re going to do that dance.’ "

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Van Der Beek's widow Kimberly announced his death on February 11 on Instagram. "He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend."

Sigler at the time commented: "We are the luckiest to have been part of his tribe. Fly high James. You were everything good in this world. ❤️."

Jamie Lynn Sigler in New York in June 2025.

Michael Loccisano/Getty

Sigler also mourned Van Der Beek during the March 3 episode of her *MeSsy *podcast, which she shares with Christina Applegate, calling "his gorgeous wife, Kimberly, and his six beautiful children" the actor's "legacy.”

“James’ wisdom that he shared with us all the time, he so generously shared with the world. And as his friend, it makes me so happy to see the way he’s being celebrated and the way his gospel is sort of spreading like wildfire, the way it always should have. He was larger than life, and he still is," she said in part.

"I’m going to miss him a lot and I’m really, really sad that my buddy is not here. But I know he’s going to do, as he told us, great magic from above."**

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