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James Van Der Beek is grateful to get back to work after revealing his stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis last year.
The Dawson’s Creek alum, 48, opened up to Today.com about returning to work on the Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle.
“The greatest thing about work is cancer doesn’t exist between action and cut,” he shared.
“It was fun to drop in and just have a blast because it’s such a great cast, a great production, and everybody out there is really talented,” he added.
Van Der Beek celebrated the news of his casting on social media in May.
“So, this is exciting… I’m going back to work for a bit,” he shared on Instagram. “Super excited to join this awesome cast in such a fun project.”
“Almost as excited as my wife and girls are that I’m doing this 😍,” he added.
In the series, the actor is set to play the city’s new mayoral candidate and current school district superintendent Dean Wilson, Deadline reports.
Elle will follow Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) through her high-school years, long before her time as the nation’s premier lawyer in pink. According to a release, the prequel delves into “the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film.”
In April, executive producer Reese Witherspoon (who famously portrayed the character in the Legally Blonde film series) gave fans a glimpse into the highly anticipated show by sharing the first photo of Minetree as a young Elle Woods a post shared to Instagram.
“Harvard was hard. High School was harder. Our new series, Elle, is now in production!” she captioned the post, which featured a shot of Minetree smiling while taking a phone call in bed.
Van Der Beek’s casting news came six months after the actor revealed to PEOPLE that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
“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,” he shared at the time.
“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” Van Der Beek added.
Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty
While appearing on the third hour of Today on July 30, the actor gave an update on his health.
“I’m feeling great,” he said. “It’s been a journey. There are just so many ups and downs and so many unknowns. Cancer is – I call it a full-time job.”
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He told the outlet that he’s also now finding “the beauty of just taking things a little bit more slowly and prioritizing rest and really allowing that to be the job.”
“I’m just on the journey,” he added. “It’s a process. It’ll probably be a process for the rest of my life.”
