Joel Edgerton has made plenty of powerful friends in Hollywood and the Australian actor and director is calling on them to help a wonderful cause.
The 43-year-old from Sydney admits digging into his A-List contact book and asking for favours from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino and Kate Beckinsale made him a little nervous, but when he explained the life-changing work the Fred Hollows Foundation does across the globe the response was emphatic.
Star power will be on show at Hollywood's Dream Hotel on Wednesday night (Thursday 2pm AEDT) when Edgerton stages an inaugural fundraising gala for the foundation named after the Australian ophthalmologist whose trailblazing work has restored eyesight to more than a million people.
DiCaprio, Pacino, Beckinsale, Chris Pine, Rob Pattinson and Lisa Wilkinson agreed to be co-chairs.
The guest list includes Ricky Martin, Jamie Foxx, Lana Del Rey, Sam Worthington, Ellen Pompeo, Tim Minchin, Camilla Belle, Halston Sage, Suki Waterhouse, Paris Hilton and Zachary Quinto.
"I'm not good at asking people for favours and it's really the first time in the 15 years I've been in LA that, outside of movies, I've asked people to put themselves on the line," Edgerton, who just finished directing Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe in the drama Boy Erased in Atlanta, told AAP.
"So when I asked, people were happy to help."
Edgerton is a long-time ambassador for the foundation, which works in more than 25 countries and supports teams of surgeons, nurses and screening staff to reach patients in what are some of the most difficult conditions.
Edgerton says Hollywood's elite were more than willing to help when they were showed how a 10-minute surgery that costs just $25 could completely change the life of someone who has been blind for years.
"We are focusing the event around the work the foundation does in Africa, especially Ethiopia," said Edgerton, explaining the LA gala.
"Dr Wondu (Alemayehu) is joining us from Ethiopia and he's going to explain the desperate situation there with trachoma, which is an infectious and blinding disease."
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