Brad Pitt has joined the Los Angeles
cast of a play based on the trial over the constitutionality of
California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8.
The 2010 trial, which was held in San
Francisco, resulted in federal Judge Vaughn Walker, now retired,
declaring the 2008 voter-approved amendment unconstitutional. A
3-judge appeals panel last month upheld Walker's ruling. Proponents
of the ban have asked the court for a wider review.
Pitt will play Walker in the Los
Angeles premiere of the play, simply titled 8 and penned by
Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black.
The March 3 reading includes a bevy of
Hollywood heavyweights, including George Clooney, Jamie Lee Curtis,
Matt Bomer, Martin Sheen, Jane Lynch and George Takei, to name a few.
The American Foundation for Equal
Rights (AFER), the group formed specifically to support the legal
challenge, also announced that the reading will be streamed live on
its YouTube
channel starting Saturday at 7:30PM PST.
The Broadway premiere of 8
raised over $1 million for the right to win marriage equality.
(Related: Nearly
60 percent of California voters support gay marriage.)