James Van Der Beek called his sixth child Jeremiah 'healing for us' before his death

James Van Der Beek raved about his sixth child, Jeremiah, before he was diagnosed with cancer.

After the renowned American actor’s death from stage III colorectal cancer at the age of 48 on February 11, 2026, his November 2022 interview with PEOPLE magazine was published on Friday, February 13.

Van Der Beek told the outlet that his brood felt complete with the arrival of “rainbow baby” Jeremiah, whom he and his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek welcomed in October 2021.

He said, “He’s really been a blessing. I mean, this is going to sound weird, but when he arrived, we honestly just thought, ‘Oh my God, how did we exist without him?’ Which is insane because we had five children before that.”

“But given everything we went through leading up to him, the fact that he was a boy just felt so healing for us.”

“He anchors the family in a really beautiful way. The girls all dote on him. My son as a brother. And yeah, it’s just magical happy little king booty boy that gets everything he wants. And is not afraid to demand it,” the Dawson’s Creek star gushed.

It is pertinent to mention that Van Der Beek and Kimberly also welcomed Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, and Gwendolyn, 7 before Jeremiah.