Film stars line up to help tsunami victims

A host of Hollywood stars are to take part in a TV special to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami disaster.

17:03 14 January 2005

A host of Hollywood stars are to take part in a TV special to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami disaster.

Andy Garcia, Lucy Liu and Natalie Portman have all confirmed that they will appear in the two-hour show to be broadcast in the US.

And now actors Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant and Robert De Niro have also been added to the line-up.

They will join numerous other film stars on the show, billed as "A Concert of Hope", during which viewers will be urged to pledge money.

Although it is not yet clear what format the programme will take, some of Hollywood's biggest hitters have signed up to take part, including Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones and husband Michael Douglas.

Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore and Tim Robbins have all agreed to make appearances.

Organisers are hoping the show will be as successful as one held in the wake of the September 11th attacks in 2001, which raised more than $150 million (80 million).

Another actor set to star in the show, George Clooney, recently condemned suggestions that not all the money raised would be going to the appeal.

Clooney, currently appearing in Ocean's Twelve in the US, told Fox TV's Bill O'Reilly: "We're not playing games here, we're trying to save lives."

The former Batman and Perfect Storm star was reacting to O'Reilly's comments that celebrities taking part in the NBC production "had better be involved all the way down the line".