Cast members of the Steven Soderbergh-directed pandemic thriller film, including Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Ehle, haved teamed up for the new #ControltheContagion PSAs.
- Mar 28, 2020
AceShowbiz - Kate Winslet, Matt Damon and their "Contagion" co-stars are coming together to raise awareness on how to fight coronavirus. As numbers of COVID-19 cases continue to rise around the world, the cast members of the Steven Soderbergh-directed pandemic thriller took part in a new #ControltheContagion campaign to spread vital information about the virus.
In her PSA, Winslet stressed on the importance of proper handwashing. "In the movie 'Contagion', I played an epidemiologist trying to stop the spread of a hypothetical virus," she kicked off her instructional video. "To prepare for the role, I spent time with some of the best public health professionals in the world."
"And what was one of the most important things they taught me? Wash your hands like your life depends on it because right now, in particular, it just might," the 44-year-old actress continued. "Or the life of someone you love, or even the life of someone you might not know but is still deserving of your consideration. Like the people on the front lines of this fight right now, the doctors and the healthcare providers, the people who are still working in the grocery stores or delivering food to your homes, which is where you should be right now."
Damon, who played Mitch Emhoff in the movie, pleaded with fans to practice social distancing in his PSA. "It means stay six feet away from another person," he defined. "It means not gathering in groups and it means staying home or sheltering in place, if that's what government officials are telling you to do. People can have COVID-19 and have very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. So even if you think that they're healthy, or you think that you're healthy, don't take that chance. It is not worth it."
Winslet and Damon's co-star Laurence Fishburne, on the other hand, shared message of hope in his video. Noting that COVID-19 is changing how people live for a while, he stated, "I know it's frightening to wake up every day and to see on the news that more people have died. But the overwhelming majority of us are going to live." He added, "So until we have a cure, you can be that, for the people where you live and for the people that you love. We can beat this thing together just by staying apart."
Another cast member Jennifer Ehle has also talked about how people can help stop the spread of coronavirus by staying home and staying informed. "I'm not a scientist, I'm an actor. I'm also a daughter, a wife and a mother. I realize that this virus is a threat to all of us and so I am hoping we can learn not to be a threat to each other," she emphasized in her PSA.
#ControltheContagion campaign is the stars' joint collaboration project with the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Each PSA was written under the guidance of "Contagion" experts, Dr. Larry Brilliant, Mark Smolinski, Laurie Garrett and Dr. W. Ian Lipkin. The latter has previously announced that he too has been infected with the virus.
