When James Van Der Beek announced his cancer diagnosis to his “The Real Full Monty” castmates, they were shocked.
“[He] dropped a bomb on us,” Anthony Anderson told Fox News Digital.
Anderson executive produces and also stars in “The Real Full Monty” along with Van Der Beek, Bruno Tonioli, Tyler Posey, Taye Diggs and Chris Jones. Based on the beloved 1997 movie, the special features the cast raising awareness for prostate, testicular and colorectal cancer testing and research by training for and recreating the movie’s famous striptease finale.
Van Der Beek broke the news of his diagnosis to his castmates during rehearsals, making the work they were doing all the more important.
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“For what it means, for our friend to go through this personally to share with us, ‘had you called me six weeks ago, couple of months ago, prior to this, I may not be here doing this show with you right now,’” Anderson said. “So it really showed the importance of what a show like ‘The Real Full Monty’ not only means to us, but to the community at large and for what it means for men to go out and get to get educated, to get tested and go see a doctor.”
Van der Beek told Fox News Digital he’s “doing great” since he announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
WATCH: JAMES VAN DER BEEK ‘DROPPED A BOMB’ ON ‘THE REAL FULL MONTY’ CASTMATES
In an Instagram post on Nov. 3, the “Dawson’s Creek” star wrote, “‘It is cancer…’ Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them.”
He explained that he had been “dealing with this privately,” focusing on “getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before.”
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But he also revealed that his plan to discuss it publicly and raise awareness was “altered” the morning he shared the post when he learned “a tabloid was going to run with the news.”
He also took a moment to apologize to people he knows personally who had to find out about his diagnosis through the media, writing, “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.”
When Van Der Beek told the men during rehearsals for “The Real Full Monty,” Tonioli said his first thought was “strength and bravery.”
“I admired him so much, the positive attitude, the strength of character is totally inspiring and amazing. Really amazing,” the “Dancing with the Stars” judge said.
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He added that just about everyone they know has been supportive of the idea, racy as it is, “because people understand how important this is. All my ‘Dancing with the Stars’ team, my friends because it is a great show, but the message is important and everybody was totally supportive.”
Van Der Beek added, “even my kids. Most of them,” are supportive of their dad baring all on television.
“I’d say percentage wise, 60% of my kids were totally on board,” he added.
The 47-year-old has six children with his wife of 14 years, Kimberly.
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Anderson joked that Van Der Beek has a “full litter” of kids, and that the 60% means four of them were on board.
Van Der Beek said, “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder” during the training and rehearsals for the show.
“Teen Wolf” star Posey added, “That’s where the heart of [the show] is during the training.”
Diggs admitted, “I thought it was going to be like a glorified PSA, you know? A couple of step touches, I thought it would be easy. And it was work.”
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He continued, “I’m glad that I did. I didn’t know that it would be such hard work, but it was the kind of work that was good for me, and it was good to just be with a bunch of people. I got to know each and every one of these fellas in a very intimate way. To have one focus, and then have an art form kind of behind that is very powerful. Something that could have been taken, you know, as is or as silly or light. You know we actually, we really focused.”
Van Der Beek joked, “In between, when we were[n’t] falling down laughing, we were super focused.”
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Tonioli added, “The rehearsals were great, it was when we actually had to do it! We loved it.”
“I find myself explaining what we did on ‘The Real Full Monty’ now that we’re promoting it to my friends and family. Because when we were doing it, not too many people knew what was going on or what I was doing,” the “Blackish” star said. “But now they see the advertisements for and they’re like, ‘Yeah, what’s the show you’re doing? What’s this movie?’ I was like, ‘It’s not a movie, I’m naked!’ And I enjoy explaining it to them now because it gives me more of a sense of purpose to really be talking about the messaging behind everything.”
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“I think we’re all on the same page in a way, because we’ve all been affected by family, friends by this personally,” Tonioli said.
His longtime friend and fellow “DWTS” judge Len Goodman died last year from prostate cancer, making it an easy decision when Anderson reached out to him to be on the show.
“So when you asked me, it’s definitely, definitely because, [we] lost Len,” Tonioli said, adding, “it will make a difference. People will watch this, and they will go out there and get checked. And it’s very, very important.”
“The Real Full Monty” premieres Monday, Dec. 9, on FOX and streams the following day on Hulu.
