"Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek is selling merchandise from one of his films to help him pay for the costs for his recent colorectal cancer diagnosis.
The actor, who famously portrayed quarterback Jonathan "Mox" Moxon, from the 1999 film "Varsity Blues," made the announcement on Instagram.
"Merch drop! Excited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of #VarsityBlues with a limited edition #4 Moxon jersey — each one personally autographed by me," he wrote.
Concluding the post, he added, "100% of my net proceeds will go to families recovering from the financial burden of cancer (including my own)."
Van Der Beek first talked about his diagnosis last month during an interview with People, saying that while he had been "dealing with this pretty much in secret for a while," he has found it "cathartic to share things publicly."
"And I've found a lot of support that way," he added. "But more than that, I really wanted to raise awareness."
In a new interview with TooFab, Van Der Beek said he was "feeling really strong, in a very good place." He also spoke about his upcoming Fox special, "The Real Full Monty," which will see him stripping and dancing for cancer awareness alongside Anthony Anderson, Taye Diggs, Tyler Posey, and Bruno Tonioli.
"I got word that there was a special called 'The Real Full Monty' that Anthony was heading up and the idea was to raise awareness about early cancer detection and also kind of knock away the stigma that a lot of men have around getting tested. And I thought, Oh, well, that's brilliant. I knew immediately I was doing it, my brain took a little convincing after that," Van Der Beek said.
Van Der Beek added that he "knew immediately" it was something he had to do "regardless of how uncomfortable it might be."
"But that's kind of the point of it. If we can get on stage and learn to dance and strip in front of thousands of people alive, you can have a conversation with your doctor and get checked and it might save your life," he said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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