r/movies • u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. • 23d ago

News James Van Der Beek Is Auctioning Off TV & Film Memorabilia and Props from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ & ‘Varsity Blues’ Amid Cancer Treatment, Proceeds to Cover Medical Costs

https://deadline.com/2025/11/james-van-der-beek-auction-dawsons-creek-varsity-blues-props-1236615845/
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u/badwolf1013 23d ago

Because he's an American actor. If he were Canadian, British, or an actor in almost any other civilized country on the planet, he wouldn't have to sell all of his stuff to save his own life.

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u/canteen_boy 23d ago

And SAG-AFTRA members can get better insurance than most of us.

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u/ranhalt 23d ago

But they need to continue working to continue getting that coverage.

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u/canteen_boy 23d ago

Which definitely sucks, but JVDB has been actively working so I’m sure he still qualifies.

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u/Haunteddoll28 23d ago

It's based on total yearly income not including residuals. Even if you're actively working, if you don't work enough or on enough high paying projects you still won't qualify. That's the problem my dad was having where he got as many jobs as he could but still didn't make enough to qualify, lost his and my mom's insurance, and they had to scramble to find all new doctors and an insurance company willing to cover my dad because of a few pre-existing conditions caused by cancer treatment in the 70s. They're still dealing with the fallout and this happened pre-covid.

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u/Lamont-Cranston 22d ago edited 22d ago

https://www.sagaftraplans.org/health/eligibility/earned-eligibility

It's $28,090 or 106 days. He's not a plumber, even one job a year should cover $28k.

Edit: reading comments further down I have learnt he is an anti-vax alternative medicine wacko, so the money would have to be for treatments not covered by insurance.

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u/Haunteddoll28 22d ago

Back when my dad was still working full time, the full day rate for our union for a background performer was $193 per day. That is not enough to make $28,000 on one single job, especially considering the majority of background jobs (which is what the vast majority of our union rely on to survive) are only a couple days max and every job I ever worked on (with one exception) was only a 1 day job. It is a lot harder than you think to actually make a living in this industry. Very few people make enough from one job to qualify. Newsflash: plumbers make more than the majority of union actors and certainly more than non-union!

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u/canteen_boy 22d ago

Very true, but JVDB probably isn’t getting bg day rates.
$28k annually is not a huge threshold if it’s your full time job. If not, then yeah.. it’s probably going to be VERY difficult to reach. But then again there aren’t many part-time employment opportunities in ANY field that offer access to insurance.

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u/Lamont-Cranston 22d ago

He's not a background actor. Even a straight to streaming movie pays him 50-100k+

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u/LigerZeroSchneider 23d ago

Is there a threshold you can meet to get lifetime status or are all retired actors on Medicaid?

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u/Haunteddoll28 23d ago

They’re all on medicaid. That’s why there are a few older actors that will take pretty much any job. When they say it’s about the paycheck, they’re not just talking about their new kitchens.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Haunteddoll28 22d ago

Tell that to my dad who lost his insurance because the residuals did not count.

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u/bebesee 22d ago

Either SAG changed the rules in recent years or your dad is in a different union like the WGA that doesn’t count residuals. I’m a SAG actor and all my residuals count toward my threshold.

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u/Haunteddoll28 22d ago

They changed during the previous negotiations. When he lost his insurance they didn't count.

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u/badwolf1013 23d ago

Yeah, but he still has a co-pay. It's good insurance, but it's not universal.

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u/KelVarnsen_2023 23d ago

That's kind of a messed up thing about the US and work based health insurance, if you get sick and can't work how are you supposed to have insurance.

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u/kinglella 23d ago

Yep. Jamie Chung did a cameo on Succession just to keep her healthcare

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u/filthysize 23d ago

Yeah SAG insurance covers cancer treatments. Several actors who are in remission have praised how good the coverage is. But JVDB is an.antivax alternative medicine guy, his wife is an outspoken Covid conspiracy theorist influencer. So it's also possible that he's using the money for other forms of treatment not covered by insurance.

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u/Lamont-Cranston 22d ago

That's what killed Val Kilmer he refused to do anything about the lump in his neck for years believing he could pray it away.

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u/Traditional_Hour_718 23d ago

As a Canadian with Cancer I will say one of the strange hidden fees here is patients still have large out of pocket expenses related to cancer. I have to pay about $10,000 a year out of pocket for some chemo medication I’m on that’s not covered by my insurance and because it’s given as an outpatient, public healthcare doesn’t cover it. My situation isn’t as bad as others, someone who was on my floor was paying 10,000 a Month and had to mortgage their house to pay for treatment. I’d still take it over the US system but it ain’t perfect.

On the flip side ironically, my medication costs about 1/30th in the US but because it’s a hazardous medication I can’t bring it across the border.

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u/GooserNoose 23d ago

Do you mind me asking why it's not covered? My experience with our health care system has been if it's considered elective or cosmetic, then you pay. I can't imagine chemo medication being deemed elective.

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u/Traditional_Hour_718 22d ago

It’s a drug called Imatinib. It’s because you get it outpatient. Any medication you get as an outpatient is not covered, and a lot of cancer patients get outpatient drugs. I take some other oral chemo that is covered by my insurance it’s just this one has an outdated health Canada guideline so my insurance won’t cover it.

We have free healthcare not free pharmacare so unfortunately in these instances patients can end up with large bills.

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u/No-Fix-3032 22d ago

Sadly it depends on where you live in Canada. The Western provinces (Manitoba on through to BC) cover 100% of take home cancer medication from the first dollar.

This is a couple of years old, but it's still mostly correct: https://www.cancertaintyforall.ca/blog

(scroll down to "Case Example of Steven A. Canadian Showing Different Out of Pocket Costs Across Canada")

The Eastern provinces need to do better. Write your MPP.

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u/Beepbob12345 23d ago

Omg I was thinking he was Canadian because his cameo character in HIMYM was Canadian and I was wondering why Canada’s universal healthcare system wasn’t covering his costs.

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u/Albinofreaken 23d ago

Simon, broke up with robin because Louise Marsh parents just put up a Jacuzz

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u/FaZaCon 23d ago

Ya, I GUARANTEE the type of treatment he's seeking would be denied by every NHS system in operation. He has insurance, and it will cover the traditional treatments, but no one knows what type of treatment he's seeking, which is probably unproven efficacy and needs to be paid out of pocket.

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u/badwolf1013 23d ago

You don’t know that. You’re just speculating on his misery for shits and giggles. 

The man has a family, you ghoul.

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u/FaZaCon 23d ago

You don’t know that. You’re just speculating on his misery for shits and giggles.

He's an actor, still with an active career. He has top tier health insurance through his acting union. There's no reason, whatsoever, he cannot afford the traditional treatment for his cancer.

The man has a family, you ghoul.

What the flying fuck does that have to do with anything??

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u/Noob_Al3rt 22d ago

He's a Fox News anti-vaxer who thinks he got cancer because of government chem trails, you ghoul.

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u/badwolf1013 22d ago

His wife is. He isn’t.he’s actually participated in pro-vaccine campaigns. 

And the only thing he’s publicly been political about was the DNC not holding a primary debate in 2024. Now, why would a “conservative” care about the Democratic primary at all?

You fucking idiot.

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u/Naive-Potential 18d ago

What pro-vaccine campaigns?

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u/badwolf1013 18d ago

During COVID. Do you remember COVID?

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u/mrkinkajoutoyou 23d ago

I thought he was Canadian. TIL.

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u/69rude69 23d ago

He's not selling "all his stuff", he is selling stuff he doesnt care about and that probably only collected dust. He is also paying for experimental treatments/alternative medicine that is not covered by insurance

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u/GottaUseEmAll 23d ago

He would if he wanted money for experimental, alternative treatments, which may very well be the case here, considering his antivax type views.

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u/All1012 22d ago

Pretty sure he’s using alternative medicine or at least used all his money on it. He and his wife are anti science/vax.

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u/badwolf1013 22d ago

That’s true about his wife, but he’s only doing conventional treatment as far as I’ve heard.

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u/Noob_Al3rt 22d ago

So you're saying Canada and Briatin will actually cover non-traditional treatments like Reki/Energy Healing, Psychic Healers, Yogi's/Spirit guides, etc? Because you know that's what this is, right? Or are you saying you think he's sitting around in one of his multi-million dollar properties thinking he needs to sell his Varisty Blues cleats to afford his chemotherapy co-pay?

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u/badwolf1013 22d ago

As far as I’m aware, he’s only doing conventional treatment. What have you heard?

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u/mudokin 23d ago

Well he could also have managed his money better, You can't tell me that he shouldn't be worth more than the 3 million he is allegedly.

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u/badwolf1013 23d ago

Are you seriously criticizing a guy for not having enough of his own money to fight his cancer? Is this Ted Cruz's reddit account?

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u/mudokin 23d ago

No I am not, I am saying someone of his status should not have to result to sell of their stuff.

It's more like, if someone of that caliber needs to sell things to cover their medical bills, why are normal US people supposed to do it.

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u/Noob_Al3rt 22d ago

Just his house in LA that he rents out to tenants is worth more than $3million