16-05-2025
James Van Der Beek joins Prime Video's Legally Blonde prequel series Elle as he continues cancer battle
Just two months after he was unmasked as the Griffin on Fox's The Masked Singer, and as he continues his cancer battle, James Van Der Beek is getting back to work.
The 48-year-old actor, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer back in August 2023 but didn't reveal it publicly until November 2024, has signed on to star in Amazon's Legally Blonde prequel series Elle, via Deadline.
He joins Lexi Minetree as the young Elle Woods, who was originally played by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film Legally Blonde and the 2003 sequel Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blonde.
The show is set years before the events of the first movie, showing the events that shaped her life before the first movie, which saw her head to Harvard Law after graduating from a California college.
Van Der Beek will play Dean Wilson, a current school superintendent and the city's new mayoral candidate in a recurring role.
The actor also took to Instagram to share the news with his 1.6 million Instagram followers on Thursday.
'So, this is exciting… I'm going back to work for a bit. Super excited to join this awesome cast in such a fun project,' Van Der Beek began.
He added, 'Almost as excited as my wife and girls are that I'm doing this,' he said of his wife Kimberly Brook and their daughters Olivia, 15, Annabel, 11, Emilia, 9 and Gwendolyn, 6.
The post amassed nearly 11K likes in the three hours since he posted the news to his fans.
Elle was created by Laura Kittrell (High School, Insecure), with a cast that also includes June Diane Raphael, and Tom Everett Scott as Elle's mother and father, Eva and Wyatt, plus Gabrielle Policano (Liz), Jacob Moskovitz (Miles), Chandler Kinney (Kimberly), and Zac Looker (Dustin).
Also featured in recurring roles are Jessica Belkin (Madison), Logan Shroyer (Josh), Amy Pietz (Donna), Matt Ober (Principal Anderson), Chloe Wepper (Ms. Burke), David Burtka (Chad), Brad Harder (Charlie), Kayla Maisonet (Tiffany) and Lisa Yamada (Amber).
Witherspoon will executive produce through her Hello Sunshine production company, with creator Kittrell serving as a co-showrunner with executive producer Caroline Dries.
Lauren Neustadter and Marc Platt will also executive produce, with Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) directing the first two episodes.
Van Der Beek first announced his colorectal cancer diagnosis back in November 2024, more than a year after after he was first told by doctors.
'Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I'm one of them,' began.
He added, 'I've been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before.'
'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,' he added.
The actor also apologized, 'to all the people in my life who I'd planned on telling myself. Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline.'
He added that he was planning on doing an extensive talk with People to reveal the news, but he revealed the news on Instagram when he learned a tabloid was planning on revealing the news.
'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. Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support,' he concluded.
He later told People that he's 'cautiously optimistic' about his cancer battle, adding, 'I'm in a place of healing, my energy levels are great.'
He also appeared in Fox's The Real Full Monty special, where he bared it all to spread awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research.
The actor added in a video back in March that he had to be away from his family while getting treatment, stating it made him, 'look my own mortality in the eye.'
'I was away for treatment, so I could no longer be a husband who was helpful to my wife. I could no longer be a father who could pick up his kids and put them to bed and be there for them. I could not be a provider because I wasn't working.'
As he was contemplating his identity, the Vampirina voice actor said, 'I was faced with the question, "If I am just a too-skinny, weak guy, alone in an apartment with cancer, what am I?"
The Downsizing actor said he was meditating on that question, when he got an answer regarding what he considered his diminished status.
'I am worthy of God's love simply because I exist. And if I'm worthy of God's love, shouldn't I also be worthy of my own?' he asked.
'As I move through this healing portal toward recovery, I wanted to share that with you because that revelation that came to me was in no small part to all the prayers and the love that had been directed toward me,' he said.
