When the Dolan Twins announced that their dad, Sean, had passed away after battling cancer in January 2019, fans were devastated for them. Now, Ethan and Grayson Dolan are ready to talk publicly about how difficult his death truly was for them. On Monday, February 17, the YouTube famous twins released a documentary titled Losing a Best Friend about their late father and what they went through after losing him.
Fans of Ethan and Grayson not only learned a lot about the boys, but about their dad, while watching the documentary. While on a trip to their hometown in New Jersey, they brothers met up with their father’s friends and colleagues to talk about the positive impact Sean had on their lives. They also spoke with family members and many emotional memories were shared.
Ethan and Grayson also shared a heartfelt letter with fans about their decision to make the documentary.
“We believe that our father was very in touch with his soul’s purpose while he was here, which was to help people. Just by watching this documentary, you have done something for us that we are so thankful for. You have allowed our father to continue to give back and make a positive impact as he did when he was here,” they wrote in the documentary’s description. “A special message to anyone who is going through what we are — you are not alone. We understand how difficult this is. Sending love.”
Scroll through our gallery and see everything we learned from the Dolan Twins’ documentary Losing a Best Friend.
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Along with their emotional message to fans in the documentary’s description, the Dolan Twins also got real about their experience making the film.
“Directing and producing this documentary was very tough for us, but we will be forever grateful for everything we learned during the process of its creation,” they said.
The boys were extremely hands-on in every aspect of creating Losing a Best Friend.
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One year after their father passed away, on January 19, 2020, Ethan and Grayson went to therapy for the first time. During the documentary, the brothers revealed that they wanted to speak with someone in order to get more in touch with their emotions.
While in the filmed session, Ethan and Grayson touched on difficult topics like feeling guilty for not being more upset, suffering from anxiety and how the grieving process is different for everyone.
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While they were looking through old family photos, the twins revealed that for one year they went to school with their dad every day. Before his passing, Sean was a teacher, vice principal and a coach at various New Jersey schools.
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Throughout the entire documentary, Ethan and Grayson met up with various friends, family members and colleagues of their late father. Each person recounted a heartfelt moment they had with Sean.
One of the most meaningful stories came when the brothers met up with their dad’s former student David. While their dad was sick, David wrote the family a letter about the impact that Sean had on his baseball career. Ethan and Grayson met up with him to thank him for the “touching” letter and memory about their father.
Other people close to Sean shared stories about when they were young and what he was like as a coach and teacher. As Grayson said at the end of the documentary, “a lot of the stories were similar because he was such a consistently good person.”
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During a conversation with one of Sean’s colleagues — an art teacher named Kirsten — the boys talked about their dad’s book, The Boy with the Sketchbook. Kirsten opened up about working alongside Sean to illustrate his children’s book and said that he always dreamed big, wanting to take his book on tour.
Eventually, the boys revealed, that he brought the book to multiple schools and read it to young students.
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During one somber moment in the documentary, the boys were talking to their mom about their dad. She shared that they had been together for “more years than she wasn’t with him” and the hardest part of losing him was that they’re going to have more years without him.
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All of the music used throughout the entire documentary was made by Sean. He played the drums and the piano. At one point in the film, the boys sat down and listened to music he made with one of his old bands. The twins used the music in the documentary’s credits.
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Near the end of the documentary, viewers watched as Ethan shaved his own head. On Instagram, he revealed that this was a way for him to honor his father and support others who may have lost their hair from treatment.
“I had never seen my dad insecure in his life EVER, besides the day he lost his hair from the various cancer treatments he was going [through] to treat the cancer in his brain. He was upset because he thought his bald head made him look sick. He didn’t want it to look like he was fading. He wanted to be strong for everyone around him. He wanted us all to know that giving up wasn’t an option. He thought losing his hair would convince people he was giving up. I wanted to shave my head for him so bad so he wouldn’t be alone in this. He didn’t want me to, but I still should have. Thinking back, maybe I just wasn’t brave/confident enough to do it,” Ethan captioned the photo of his newly shaved head. “Today, I’m happy to say I f**kin’ did it! I know it’s just hair and I wanted this to help show anyone who may be losing their hair or thinking about shaving their head to support someone who may have lost their hair, that it’s true, it is just hair. To me it symbolizes strength. I feel really proud.”
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Along with the release of the documentary, the brothers announced the Love From Sean foundation. According to its website, the Love From Sean foundation supports “research, treatments, and support services for families and patients affected by cancer.”
The boys aim to honor their late father by helping others just like he did during his lifetime.