The cast of 2011 thriller Contagion have come together again to release a series of public service announcements about the coronavirus outbreak.
Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, and Jennifer Ehle filmed themselves at home, speaking about the importance of staying indoors, hand washing and social distancing.
Their videos were compiled to form public service announcements, released in partnership with the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
“Wash your hands like your life depends on it,” Winslet says in her PSA. “Because right now, in particular, it just might.”
Ehle stresses that the coronavirus is novel, meaning no one is immune. “Every single one of us, regardless of age or ethnicity, is at risk of getting it,” she says.
Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh, explores a scenario in which a lethal and fast-moving influenza is spreading around the world.
Damon, who in the film played a character who was immune to the hypothetical virus, also stresses listening to experts and staying 6 feet apart. “That was a movie. This is real life,” he says. “I have no reason to believe that I’m immune to COVID-19. And neither do you.”
Fishburne appeals to helping medical staff on the front line. “If we can slow this thing down, it will give our doctors and our nurses in our hospitals a fighting chance to help us all get through this thing together,” he says.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the videos were written by the film’s screenwriter, Scott Z Burns, under the guidance and with the input of the same medical experts who worked on the movie.
