Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling Raise $276,000 for Pediatric Cancer Patients Through Fundraiser
Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling are seizing the spotlight for an important cause.
The actors, both 41, star in the upcoming Netflix action movie The Gray Man, and sponsored a drawing to attend the movie premiere, fundraising for the Boston nonprofit Christopher's Haven. The pledge launched June 2, and Evans and Gosling ultimately raised $276,444 as of Wednesday, the day of the film's premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
Chosen in a random drawing, the contest winners were Lula H., from Columbus, Ohio, and her daughter Mariah, according to an Omaze page. The mother and daughter also won flights and a 4-star hotel stay for a trip to Los Angeles worth approximately $3,500, TMZ reported.
When the appeal launched, participants were offered a chance to be Evans and Gosling's personal guests to the big event. The Captain America star, who is from the Boston area, promoted the pitch with a series of photos held signs reading, "Want to see a movie with me?", "Join me on the red carpet!" and "Be my VIP guest" in June.
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Now, the money raised will provide 9,214 pediatric cancer patients and their families affordable housing during treatment at Christopher's Haven, according to the Omaze. Christopher's Haven has hosted over 450 families in its residential apartments and living spaces nearby Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital since its inception in 2006, according to the organization.
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Omaze
"This has been our third very successful fundraiser with our longtime supporter, Chris Evans, and Omaze," Christopher's Haven executive director Joyce Duvall said Thursday in a statement shared with PEOPLE. "The continued support from partners like them has been invaluable to our organization."
"Christopher's Haven is welcoming and accepting of families and children from all over the state, the country and the world, and partners like Chris Evans, Omaze, and our new friend, Ryan Gosling, help us continue to do that," added Duvall.
A first trailer for The Gray Man dropped in May, showing Gosling as a CIA agent squaring off against his unhinged former colleague (Evans). The action-packed footage also gave glimpses of Ana de Armas and Regé-Jean Page, who also co-star in the film.
According to an official synopsis, "The Gray Man is CIA operative Court Gentry (Gosling), a.k.a., Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry was once a highly skilled, Agency-sanctioned merchant of death."
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"But now the tables have turned and Six is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (de Armas) has his back. He'll need it."
Adapted from Mark Greaney's book series, the spy thriller is set to launch a new franchise revolving around Gosling's character and reportedly boasts a budget upward of $200 million. It is described by directors Joe and Anthony Russo as a "fight to death," Entertainment Weekly reported.
The Gray Man hits theaters Friday, and Netflix one week later.
