Inside James Van Der Beek's very private life on Texas ranch with wife and six kids as actor shares cancer diagnosis

Decades after James Van Der Beek was thrust into the spotlight thanks to his role in the beloved WB series Dawson's Creek, the actor made the shocking decision to leave Hollywood behind.

The Rules of Attraction alum, now 47, moved onto a stunning ranch in Austin, Texas, with his wife, business consultant Kimberly (née Brook), and their six kids in 2020, and since then, he has opted for a much quieter life, mostly out of the public eye.

But the former TV star's personal life has been thrust back into the spotlight this week as he shared the news that he had been diagnosed with cancer on Sunday.

James wrote in a heartbreaking Instagram post that he had been told that a tabloid was planning to publish a story about it, so he was forced to share it online sooner than he would have liked to have gone public with it.

He did not reveal what kind of cancer he had - but People magazine reported that it was colorectal cancer - and added that he would tell people more 'when he's ready.'

James was once one of the most popular actors on the globe thanks to his role as Dawson Leery in the 1997 WB series Dawson's Creek.

The show was as his first major role and turned him into a massive star practically overnight - and after it came to an end in 2003, he went on to star in a slew of other successful movies and shows.

But in recent years, his life has slowed down immensely, as he has switched his focus to being a doting husband and father instead.

He married his wife, Kimberly, in 2010 following his highly-publicized divorce from actress Heather McComb, and the couple went on to welcome six kids together: Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel, 10, Emilia, eight, Gwendolyn, six, and Jeremiah, three.

In 2020, following an extremely difficult year that involved two pregnancy losses and the death of his mother, the couple decided to relocate to Texas so that they could be closer to 'nature.'

Afterwards, James confessed that his 'priorities had changed' and that while he loved being a part of the movie industry, he would now only get involved in projects that 'fit around' his family.

Following the actor's heartbreaking health update, FEMAIL has rounded up everything that you need to know about his extremely private life in Texas.

Becoming a Hollywood heartthrob: James was skyrocketed into the spotlight due to Dawson's Creek

James grew up in Cheshire, Connecticut, and fell in love with theater at a young age.

He made his off-Broadway debut at only 16 years old in the play Finding the Sun, and had small roles in the films Angus and I Love You, I Love You Not throughout the 1990s.

After graduating from high school he headed to Drew University for college, but dropped out after he was cast in Dawson's Creek in 1998.

The show, which also starred Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson, was a huge success and propelled him into the spotlight immediately.

He went on to star in the drama Varsity Blues, western film Texas Rangers, comedy Scary Movie, The Rules of Attraction, the series One Tree Hill, political thriller Formosa Betrayed, medical drama Mercy, Anders Anderson's Stolen, ABC's Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, CSI: Cyber, and the Emmy-nominated series Pose.

He also wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy show What Would Diplo Do? and competed in the 28th season of Dancing With the Stars.

Leaving the spotlight behind: Actor said goodbye to Hollywood to move onto a stunning Texas ranch

But in 2020, James left Hollywood and relocated with his family to Austin, Texas.

He told Fox News afterwards that the decision stemmed from him and his wife wanting their kids to be closer to 'nature.'

'We love it, we have a lot more space,' he gushed at the time. 'We all needed a more immediate connection to nature.

'It's been a really, really great move and the kids are really happy. 

'One of the benefits of getting out of the big city was getting to a place where we could just have more space right outside our door. It's a very different life.'

In addition, James described the move as 'really centering' and 'grounding' to People magazine, adding, 'It's just connected us, not just to nature, but to the natural life cycles all around us.'

His wife Kimberly also told ET Online that they opted to move after enduring a 'crazy year' that involved two tragic pregnancy losses and the passing of James' mom.

'We just had been through a crazy year with two late-term miscarriages and my body was still healing and it was hard for me to walk around at that point,' she shared.

'I was exhausted. And James' mom had just passed, so to get [to] Texas, it was the nurturing hug we needed.

'Texas has the capacity to heal. It’s expansive and nature will hug you and heal you.' 

James previously spoke about his wife's first pregnancy lost, which occurred in the midst of his appearance on Dancing With the Stars in 2019.

'It was just so much pain, and it was so unexpected because everything was right, everything was fairytale,' he said. 

'Everything was coming together perfectly ... We were both just crying and sobbing.'

She then endured another miscarriage in 2020, with James writing on Instagram at the time, 'After suffering a brutal, very public miscarriage last November, we were overjoyed to learn we were pregnant. 

'This time, we kept the news to ourselves. But last weekend, once again, 17 weeks in... the soul we’d been excited to welcome into the world had lessons for our family that did not include joining us in a living physical body.'

After moving, James admitted that his 'priorities had changed,' and that while he still loved acting and writing, he now wanted to 'spend the most amount of time with his family.'

'I was really enjoying the kind of career that I had been wanting to build for quite some time before 2020 but now my priorities have changed,' he told Fox News. '[My next role] would really have to fit around my life.'

But he added,  'I do love telling stories. That is something that I've always wanted to do, and I think I'll always continue to do that.'

Heartbreaking cancer diagnosis: James has now revealed that he's battling the disease

James revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer on Sunday via Instagram.

'"It is cancer." Each year, approximately two billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them,' he wrote. 

'There’s no playbook for how announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon… to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms.

'But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.'

The actor added that he had been 'getting treatment' in private, and apologized to the people 'in his life' who had to find out through the post. 

'I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,' he continued.

'I’m in a good place and feeling strong. It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.

'Apologies to all the people in my life who I’d planned on telling myself. Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline… 

'But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, pointing us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention.'

The actor is now slated to be one of the numerous celebrities to appear on Fox's The Real Full Monty, a two-hour special where celebs will strip to spread awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research.

He will be joined by Taye Diggs, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, and Dancing With the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli.