‘Cancer’ show sparks laughs, tears
Stars’ emotions run high backstage at telethon
LOS ANGELES – “Everyone get in here,” Sofia Vergara orders to her “Modern Family” co-stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julie Bowen and Sara Hyland.
Although the crew has worked together since 2009 on the ABC comedy, meeting in the green room of the “Stand Up to Cancer” telecast Friday at Los Angeles’ Barker Hangar is reason to celebrate with a group selfie.
Even David Spade gets pulled into the mix as the grinning Vergara snaps away. The picture is such a hit that Ferguson, peering over Vergara’s shoulder as she inspects the final product, pleads, “Please, please send it to me.”
Three feet away, Josh Brolin holds court while reclined on a couch along with Rob Riggle and Ed Helms, talking about the joys of fatherhood. (Brolin is expecting a baby daughter.)
“It’s great to see people in this context,” says “Moonlight” star Mahershala Ali. “The vibe is so nice, and everyone is here for the same cause.”
The cause that has brought Hollywood stars to don SU2C T-shirts, answer phones and help raise money is the fight against cancer for the sixth SU2C telethon, airing on every TV network.
The celebrity-filled telethons have raised more than $480 million for cancer research even before Friday’s event. Katie Couric, one of the co-founders, personally thanks each star backstage. (“I’m so happy things are going so well for you,” she tells Brolin.)
A major part of the event’s success stems from the killer disease that has touched virtually everyone’s life, from Matt Damon (who opened and closed the show) to Couric, who paid an emotional tribute onstage to her husband, Jay Monahan, 20 years after his death from colon cancer.
Along with happy chatter backstage, there are powerful emotions. Shannen Doherty’s eyes are visibly watery as she prepares to take the stage to discuss her two-year battle with breast cancer, now in remission.
“I feel blessed. But tonight is going to be a little overwhelming,” says Doherty, standing with her “oldest, dearest, bestest friend,” cancer survivor Deborah Waknin-Harwin. “We’re going to talk about our journey on the stage, but I just started talking about it now, and I instantly started tearing up. It was like, ‘No, no, I’m not going to cry!’ ”
There were powerful stories and plenty of laughs onstage, including Tony Hale revealing a ridiculous latex superhero suit with yellow wash gloves and black platform boots.
Afterward, he can only laugh. “I guess I’m Anti-Cancer Guy. I don’t know, Ed Helms told me to put this on.”
But Hale quickly lists off friends who died from cancer and his “Veep” co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has battled breast cancer. They inspire him.
“It’s been a very difficult year, and Julia came out the other side. She’s so strong,” Hale says. “And besides, I usually don’t get to wear this kind of thing with the parts I play.”