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"Varsity Blues" actor Eliel Swinton says he messaged his co-star James Van Der Beek before he died, telling TMZ Sports he had a gut feeling the actor's health was failing.
Swinton -- who acted alongside Van Der Beek in the 1999 hit football film -- told us he reached out to James a few weeks ago after noticing they hadn't communicated in some time, which concerned him given his cancer battle.
"I sent him a little note about maybe three weeks ago, maybe a month ago, on Instagram to him personally to say, 'Hey, man, I know you're sick.