James Van Der Beek’s nine-year-old daughter opens up about grief struggles in heartbreaking tribute

James Van Der Beek's family and friends paid tribute to the late actor on what would have been his 49th birthday yesterday (8 March).

The death of the beloved Dawson's Creek star was announced by his loved ones last month, following a two-and-a-half-year battle with colorectal cancer.

The actor was diagnosed in late 2023 following a screening, which revealed the existence of a tumour that developed into stage three cancer.

A statement shared by his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek, on 11 February, said that the father-of-six 'passed peacefully' after 'meeting his final days with courage, faith, and grace'.

James and Kimberly share six children together - Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, and Jeremiah.

Today, as we say, they're celebrating his 49th birthday, with Kimberly sharing a slew of memories of the family on her Instagram story, writing that she's missing her late husband 'tremendously'.

She also shared a heartbreaking video message from their nine-year-old daughter, Emilia, who had a message for her dad.

Alongside a self-recorded video from the nine-year-old, Kimberly wrote: 'Emilia asked me if she could make a video to post today, walked outside, and came back with this.

"In my stories are a whole lot of photos and some videos All I want to do is watch videos of him right now with the kids. Thank you for the tremendous heart, love, and support for the family."

She emotionally added: "James... We will celebrate March 8th every day for the rest of our lives."

In the video, Emilia began with: "As you will probably know, my dad has passed away, before explaining that she wanted to share 'little tips' to help other people '[get] through anybody you love passing.'

"So today is my dad's birthday, and the number one thing for somebody's passing is to talk to them and let your emotions out,' the nine-year-old said.

"If you miss them, you can cry. You can talk to them. I talk to my dad every day."

Emilia continued: "'I start with a sentence, and I say, "Hi, Dad. I miss you, and I love you so much, and I'll never stop loving you.'

"I just tell him about my day, how I'm feeling, and I told my family how I'm feeling. And I know he can hear me, but I can't hear him."

In the moving video, she added: "You have to feel them in your heart, because they're in your heart. They're watching over you. They're a part of your body and in a good place. I know that my dad's in a good place. He's not in pain anymore. He's in heaven above the clouds with God and the Lord."

Emilia affirmed that it's' okay to be happy they're in a good place but still be sad because you miss them.'

She said: "Everybody has different emotions in their body, and they express it in different ways. Many, many different ways. And don't let anybody tell you that. Be like, 'No, you don't know how I feel'.

"Something my dad told me was if this doesn't work out the way he wanted it to and the way we wanted it to for him living, I still have to believe in miracles. Miracles can still happen, just later on in life, and they'll keep coming."

The nine-year-old also talked about how she 'stole' her dad's hat because it 'smells like him, and I love it so much'.

"I know that he was a good man. A lot of people loved him, and people prayed for him, and he was loved by ... many, many people," she said.

Emilia concluded her video by thanking everyone who donated to the family's GoFundMe, which was launched by a friend to support them family after James’s death, which has raised more than $2.7 million at the time of writing.

You can donate here.