James Van Der Beek knew he wanted to sign on right away for “The Real Full Monty,” striptease and all.
“I saw it was to raise awareness for early cancer detection and lessen the stigma for men to get checked. And I knew immediately I was going to do this,” he told Fox News Digital.
He added, “I neglected to inform my brain until the very last second because my brain would have just white-knuckled the entire way through.”
Van Der Beek, who recently announced he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, said he’s “doing great” so far.
JAMES VAN DER BEEK ‘DROPPED A BOMB’ ON ‘REAL FULL MONTY’ CO-STARS WITH CANCER
“The Real Full Monty,” airing Monday night on Fox, features Van Der Beek, Bruno Tonioli, Tyler Posey, Taye Diggs, Chris Jones and Anthony Anderson, who also executive produced the special, stripping down to raise awareness for prostate, testicular and colorectal cancer testing, inspired by the beloved 1997 British comedy “The Full Monty.”
WATCH: JAMES VAN DER BEEK ‘NEGLECTED TO INFORM MY BRAIN’ ABOUT STRIPTEASE
“The initial response is absolutely, I would love to,” Tyler Posey said. “And then as an actor, I think most of us have done nude scenes and there’s usually, you know, something there to cover up. So I was like, There’s going to be that, right? And they’re like, no, no, no, no, no.”
Anderson teased Posey, saying, “No Tyler, there’s not going to be a sock!”
Posey continued, “I anticipated that that was going to be it. And then I heard no. And then it created this crazy mix of like, excitement and scared. And I’m like, I have to, I have to go through with this now. I have to do this, you know? And I was honored.”
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Taye Diggs added, “At the end of the day, we created something that we’re very proud of. It’s for a great cause. And, and, you know, once again, the message, if we can get up there and do something, kind of step outside of our comfort zones, well, hopefully you guys can as well and get tested and do the right thing.”
WATCH: ‘THE REAL FULL MONTY’ CAST SHARES THE HARD WORK THAT WENT INTO LEARNING TO STRIP FOR CANCER AWARENESS
“I’m just interested in seeing if the network will allow us to do this again after they see this version,” Anderson quipped.
He credited the show’s choreographer, Emmy-winner Mandy Moore, with keeping the guys as focused as possible.
“If you could only imagine Mandy Moore trying to corral all this,” Anderson said, adding, “to handle six grown men stripping naked in front of one another. And her. And just trying to get this right.”
JAMES VAN DER BEEK MISTOOK CANCER SYMPTOMS FOR PROBLEMS WITH HIS DIET
“Dancing with the Stars” judge Bruno Tonioli added that Moore was “a saint,” and admitted that even for him, a former professional dancer, the props and costumes were challenging.
“I hated the pants. Oh my God, those pants. They never come off at the same time in the same place.”
Anderson teased, “That’s always been your problem, Bruno.”
He quipped back, “I should have done it naked from the beginning, so much easier!”
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The “Blackish” star also joked that Tonioli was ready to strip down right away.
“That’s how you walked into our first rehearsal. Bruno was the first person to strip butt naked,” Anderson said. “I was like, Bruno, we’re just introducing ourselves, ‘Hi, I’m Anthony,’ [and] Bruno [was just] a– out. Wow. It’s like, wow.”
WATCH: JAMES VAN DER BEEK ‘DROPPED A BOMB’ ON ‘THE REAL FULL MONTY’ CASTMATES
Diggs added, “we had to catch up,” and Van Der Beek credited Tonioli for “fearlessly” leading the way.
As they trained, the guys all got into the groove for the dance.
Posey said the move that got him into the groove for the striptease was twirling the tie over his head.
“There’s something about that movement in general. I felt like we were all really in sync,” he said.
“Truly, it is like an old school strip tease,” Diggs added.
The two-hour special, “The Real Full Monty,” airs Monday night on Fox and streams Tuesday on Hulu.
