Hollywood actors -- including Jared Leto -- join Obama in early-morning meeting at the Beverly Hilton to talk politics

2:15 PM PDT 6/7/2012


Before heading off for a breakfast Thursday that officially concluded his two-day fundraising trip to Los Angeles, President Barack Obama met privately at the Beverly Hilton with two dozen of Hollywood’s hottest young stars, urging them to involve themselves in his re-election campaign.

Among those who met with the president were The Avengers star Jeremy Renner, Glee actress Dianna Agron, Star Trek's Zachary Quinto, Southland's Ben McKenzie, Jessica Alba, Bryan Greenberg, Adam Rodriguez, Zach Braff, Brandon Routh, Ian Somerhalder, Jared Leto, Kal Penn and Sophia Bush.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the meeting was part of the Obama re-election campaign’s “Young America Effort,” an initiative to build support and turnout among the younger voters who were key to the president’s election four years ago.

Thursday’s private meeting was similar to the one Obama held earlier this year with Weinstein Co. mogul Harvey Weinstein and a clutch of leading entertainment industry executives, as well as talent representatives with access to the music industry’s top stars and musical act. As THR reported then, Obama did not directly solicit contributions, but he talked about how hard he expected the coming campaign to be and how valuable Hollywood support would be to his re-election effort.

Like other young Americans, young Hollywood lives on social media, and shortly after the ostensibly private meeting concluded, participants began sending out Instagrams and tweets documenting the event.


Read more: The Hollywood Reporter.