James Van Der Beek shares his kids' heartbreaking reaction to cancer news and their inappropriate name for his diagnosis
- James, 47, is father to Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, Jeremiah
- The actor said his children have all responded 'differently' to his cancer diagnosis
- READ MORE: James thanks his 'super human' wife in Thanksgiving post
James Van Der Beek has joked that he would be 'psyched' if his six children would stop referring to his illness as 'butt cancer' as he opened up about his shock diagnosis.
The 47-year-old Dawson's Creek star revealed last month that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and had been 'taking steps to resolve it with the support' of his incredible family.
Speaking in a Good Morning America interview with Robin Roberts on Tuesday, James spoke about how his brood - whom he shares with his wife of 14 years, Kim - have been coping following his diagnosis.
'It's a lot of little hearts to look after and they all respond differently, they all hide differently,' the father-of-six explained to Robin, 64.
'Some of them are very outward with their fears and they talk about them, and some of them it manifests in other ways, in other behavioral ways, or they get really quiet.'
James shares Olivia, 14; Joshua, 12; Annabel, 10; Emilia, eight; Gwendolyn, six; and two-year-old Jeremiah with Kim, whom he married in August 2010.
He joked to Robin: 'If I could get them to stop calling it butt cancer, I'd be psyched! My six-year-old almost every other day [says], "Daddy, how's your butt cancer doing?" So yeah, they keep it light.
'But again, that's also an opportunity for connection, to really go deep with them and ask them, "How are you feeling?" And be there with them and that's been some really beautiful moments as well.'
James Van Der Beek appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday to discuss his colorectal cancer diagnosis
James shares his six children - Olivia, 14; Joshua, 12; Annabel, 10; Emilia, eight; Gwendolyn, six; and two-year-old Jeremiah - with his wife, Kim
The Dawson's Creek alum continued: '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, so yeah, but they're doing great.'
When James first announced his cancer diagnosis at the beginning of November, he spoke exclusively to People.
In his statement, he said: 'I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family. There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.'
During his GMA interview, the actor became emotional when talking about his wife Kim and how she has supported him.
'I'm gonna lose it,' he told Robin. 'She's been amazing, she really taught me what unconditional love is.
'And I'm someone who is 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.
'And the beautiful blessing of that has been seeing how many people in my life have shown up.'
The Dawson's Creek alum bravely opened up to GMA's Robin Roberts on Tuesday morning
James said some of his children had been 'outward with their fears' when it comes to his illness
When Robin asked James what his message would be to anyone at home watching his interview, he said: 'My message would be, first of all, get tested, get scanned.
'Then the other one is, wherever you're at, whatever that diagnosis is, there's always hope. There's really so much we don't know about cancer and how to treat it.
'I think we're discovering things every day. [There's] a lot of research you can do. I would just say, "Have hope, you're not alone, and you got this."'
James then revealed why he's been selling his Varsity Blues jerseys on Instagram: 'Cancer's expensive, even with insurance, and so I'll be paying some of my medical bills and helping a friend that's got an organization that helps people deal with just the financial burden of this.'
