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When the four major TV networks come together Friday to Stand Up to Cancer, familiar Hollywood heavy hitters will be involved to raise money for cancer research to spread one message -- hope.
Celebrities like Olympic gold medalists Missy Franklin and Gabrielle Douglas, Justin Timberlake, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Sofia Vergara and Julia Roberts will take part in the fundraiser by participating in video chats and answering phones to take donations.
And the Oscar winner who is executive producing the hour-long commercial free broadcast? Gwyneth Paltrow, whose father passed away in 2002 to oral cancer.
Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Alicia Keys are scheduled to perform. And documentary-style short films will tell stories of patients' experiences.
Paltrow told the Los Angeles Times that she feels a lot of empathy for the patients and their families.
"I was really honored they asked me, and it's been fun helping organize, asking people for favors and really getting involved," she told the newspaper.
"It's wonderful to be involved in something that's approaching research and doctors with a real proactivity, down to their distribution of funds."
Stand Up to Cancer's four goals are to accelerate cancer research, bring teams of scientists together, get treatments to patients faster and fund innovative science, according to its website, www.standup2cancer.org.
Since 2008, Stand Up to Cancer has raised more than $180 for cancer research. The organization awards "Dream Team" grants to scientists who work together to develop new treatments.
The organization was co-founded by "Spider-Man" producer Laura Ziskin, who died last year after a seven-year battle against breast cancer.
Other stars announced for the telethon: Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Michael Douglas, Seth Rogen, Eric Stonestreet, Ray Romano, Felicity Huffman, Matt Damon, Jessica Biel, Jeremy Renner, Rocco DiSpirito and Maura Tierney.
This year's Stand Up to Cancer will air at 8pm Friday from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on the four major networks and on more than a dozen cable networks.
