When James Van Der Beek revealed his cancer diagnosis to his The Real Full Monty cast, they were shocked.

“(He) dropped a bomb on us,” Anthony Anderson told Fox News Digital.

Anderson is an executive producer and also stars in The Real Full Monty alongside Van Der Beek, Bruno Tonioli, Tyler Posey, Taye Diggs and Chris Jones. Based on the popular 1997 film, the special features the cast raising awareness of prostate, testicular and colon cancer testing and research by training for and re-enacting the film’s famous striptease finale.

Van Der Beek shared the news of his diagnosis with his comrades during rehearsals, which made the work they were doing all the more important.

James Van Der Beek shared the news of his cancer diagnosis with his Real Full Monty co-stars during rehearsals. (Ray Mickshaw/FOX)

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“What it means for our friend to go through this in person to tell us, ‘If you had called me six weeks ago, a few months ago, before that, I might not be here right now doing this show with you,'” Anderson said. “So it really showed how important a show like ‘The Real Full Monty’ is not just for us but for the entire community and what it means for men to go out and educate themselves, get tested and go to the Physician.”

Van der Beek told Fox News Digital that he is “doing great” since telling the world that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

WATCH: JAMES VAN DER BEEK LEFT A BOMB ON THE CASTMATES OF THE REAL FULL MONTY

In a Nov. 3 Instagram post, the “Dawson’s Creek” star wrote, “‘It’s cancer…’ Every year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them.”

He explained that he has been “dealing with this privately” and has focused on “getting treatment and managing my overall health with greater focus than ever before.”

Van Der Beek announced his colon cancer diagnosis to the world last month, saying a tabloid had “changed” the timeline. (JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images)

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But he also revealed that his plan to discuss the issue publicly and raise awareness “changed” the morning he shared the post when he learned that “a tabloid would be coming out 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: “On my preferred timeline, nothing has happened on this process… But we move on and “take every 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 positivity, the strength of character is absolutely inspiring and amazing. Truly amazing,” the “Dancing with the Stars” judge said.

“DWTS” judge Bruno Tonioli said he “admired” Van Der Beek’s “positive attitude” as they rehearsed for “The Real Full Monty.” (Ray Mickshaw/FOX)

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He added that almost everyone they know has supported the idea, racy as it is, “because people understand how important this is. My entire ‘Dancing with the Stars’ team, my friends, because it’s a great show, but the message is important and everyone supported me completely.

Van Der Beek added: “Even my children. Most of them support their father baring everything on TV.”

“Percentage-wise, I would say 60% of my kids were fully into it,” he added.

The 47-year-old has six children with his wife Kimberly, to whom he has been married for 14 years.

Van Der Beek joked that “60% of my kids were totally into it” and stripped down for the show. (FOX via Getty Images)

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Anderson joked that Van Der Beek has a “full litter” of children and that the 60% means four of them were on board.

Van Der Beek said during training and rehearsals for the show, “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard.”

“Teen Wolf” star Posey added, “That’s the core (of the show) during training.”

Diggs admitted: “I thought it was going to be like a glorified PSA, you know? A few step touches, I thought it would be easy. And it was work.”

Taye Diggs admitted he thought it would be “easy” to prepare for the strip show. (Ray Mickshaw/FOX)

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He continued: “I’m glad I did it. I didn’t know it would be so hard work, but it was the kind of work that was good for me, and it felt good just to be around a lot of people.” . I got to know each and every one of these guys in a very intimate way. It’s very powerful to have a focus and then have some kind of art behind it rather than being silly or frivolously focused.”

Van Der Beek joked: “When we didn’t fall over laughing every now and then, we were super focused.”

WATCH: THE CAST OF ‘THE REAL FULL MONTY’ SHARE THE HARD WORK THAT GOES INTO LEARNING TO TAKE OFF FOR CANCER AWARENESS

Tonioli added: “The rehearsals were great, 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 did it, not too many people knew what was going on or what I was doing,” the “Blackish” star said. “But now they see the commercials and they’re like, ‘Yeah, what’s this show you’re doing? What kind of movie is this?’ I thought, ‘This isn’t a movie, I’m naked!’ And I enjoy explaining it to them now because it gives me more meaning to really talk about the message behind everything.”

Anderson, who is also an executive producer of the show, said he enjoyed explaining the racy concept to people “because it gives me more purpose to really talk about the message behind everything.” (Ray Mickshaw/FOX)

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“I think in a way we can all agree because we were all personally affected by family and friends,” Tonioli said.

His longtime friend and fellow “DWTS” judge Len Goodman died of prostate cancer last year, which made the decision easy for him when Anderson asked him to appear on the show.

Tonioli said part of his attraction to “The Real Full Monty” was the loss of his friend and fellow “DWTS” judge Len Goodman, who died of prostate cancer in 2023. (Kelsey McNeal/Disney general entertainment content via Getty Images)

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“So when you asked me, it’s definitely because (we) lost Len,” Tonioli said, adding: “It will make a difference. People will look at this and they will go out and get checked. And it is very, very important.”

“The Real Full Monty” premieres Monday, December 9th on FOX and streams the following day on Hulu.