More stars 'Stand Up To Cancer'

Robert Downey Jr., Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Sofia Vergara, Ben Falcone, Kevin Bacon, Anna Kendrick, Tony Goldwyn, Dave Grohl, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Gad, Giada De Laurentiis, Jaime King, Mira Sorvino, Joe Manganiello, Jordana Brewster, Alison Sweeney, Amanda de Cadenet, Charlie Wilson and Diem Brown join one-hour telecast

"SU2C" airing on 32 broadcast and cable networks; streaming on Hulu and Yahoo

This Friday, Sept. 5 (8 p.m.), "Stand Up To Cancer," a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, will stage its fourth biennial fundraising event. Robert Downey Jr., Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Sofia Vergara, Ben Falcone, Kevin Bacon, Anna Kendrick, Tony Goldwyn, Dave Grohl, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Gad, Giada De Laurentiis, Jaime King, Mira Sorvino, Joe Manganiello, Jordana Brewster, Alison Sweeney, Amanda de Cadenet, Charlie Wilson and Diem Brown will be part of the star-studded appeal to help build public support for "SU2C's" groundbreaking translational research that can provide patients with new therapies to save lives now.

They join previously announced participants, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Jon Hamm, Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Mark Harmon, Rob Lowe, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Tony Hale, Dane Cook, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Marg Helgenberger, Matt Passmore, Rob Riggle, Italia Ricci, Ethan Zohn and Bree Turner. Special musical performances include: The Who, Jennifer Hudson, Lupe Fiasco & Common, Ariana Grande and Dave Matthews Band.

Paltrow and Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions will co-executive produce the broadcast, live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, along with ABC Family, American Forces Network, AXS TV, Bravo, Cooking Channel, Discovery Fit & Health, E!, Encore, Encore Espanol, EPIX, ESPNEWS, FOX Sports 2, FXM, HBO, HBO Latino, ION Television, LMN, Logo TV, MLB Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, Palladia, Pivot, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, Starz, TNT and VH1 are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for the nationally televised fundraising special on Friday. In addition, the show will stream live on both Hulu and Yahoo.

Instead of the traditional phone bank staffed by celebrities, the telecast will feature a "digital lounge" on the set, hosted by Yahoo News global anchor Katie Couric. Stars in the digital lounge will reach out to viewers via phone, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms through a new campaign called "We're Calling You" that "SU2C's" supporters can sign up for at www.werecallingyou.org.

In the on-stage digital lounge, Couric will tap into the Facebook Mentions Box, which allows supporters to share their connection to cancer and receive real-time responses from celebrities. Other celebrities in the digital lounge will participate in Facebook Q&As, using their own pages to respond live to fan questions. Facebook and Instagram also will have a presence on the star-studded red carpet on Sept. 5 with a photo experience that will capture the celebrities as they make their way into the Dolby Theatre, sharing images and videos with fans. All of this, and much more, can be followed on "Stand Up To Cancer's" social media feeds (facebook.com/su2c | Instagram: @SU2C | Twitter: @SU2C).

In addition to Facebook, an array of digital and social media platforms and influencers - ranging from Shazam, reddit, Nerdist, Tumblr, Yahoo, Hulu, AOL and The Huffington Post - are helping support "SU2C" this year.

For the first time, there will be a Canada-inclusive co-broadcast of the telecast, which will air simultaneously on all four major English-language Canadian networks: CBC, City, CTV and Global, along with Canadian services AMI, CHCH, CHEK, Fight Network, Gusto TV, Hollywood Suite and TLN. All funds received from the Canadian general public during the broadcast will be directed toward the creation of collaborative research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.

The first three "SU2C" telecasts took place Sept. 5, 2008, Sept. 10, 2010, and Sept. 7, 2012, and were made available to more than 190 countries. To date, more than $261 million has been pledged to support "SU2C's" innovative cancer research programs. Since 2008, "SU2C" has funded 12 "Dream Teams" of researchers and two translational research teams, as well as 26 young innovative scientists whose high-risk, potentially high-reward projects are aimed at ending cancer's reign as a leading cause of death worldwide.

"SU2C" was founded on the belief that collaboration would play an integral role in advancing cancer research. To date, "Stand Up To Cancer" has brought together more than 750 of the best and the brightest research scientists from 112 institutions in six countries to work together in order to save lives now. "SU2C"-funded researchers have planned, launched or completed more than 140 clinical trials.

For more information on "Stand Up To Cancer," visit www.standup2cancer.org.