The celebrities will weave the two hours of live and pre-recorded material together each night during the almost completely virtual program.
“This week, Americans will hear from people from all walks of life who come together to support Joe Biden’s vision for a more just, more democratic nation,” Stephanie Cutter, executive congressman, said in a statement. “The voices we raise are the perfect messages to lift our theme of unity and help us connect with more Americans than ever before.”
Longoria, known for her role on Desperate Housewives, will lead Monday night’s programming. The actress co-founded Latino Victory Fund, the first national Latino organization to sign Joe Biden for president.
Louis-Dreyfus, who played Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO series ‘Veep,’ will appear on Thursday, the night Biden is set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination. The ‘Veep’ star has spoken at virtual events and fundraisers for the former vice president on the trail of the campaign, particularly making a case for his empathy and attitude towards health care.
Dreyfus shared in June that Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer, was one of the first people to stand out after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She noted that his “true kindness and care” made her cry.
“Joe Biden actually understands that care is part of health care,” she said during the Women for Biden event.
The convention will feature hundreds of live feeds from across the country and four stage setups in New York City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Wilmington, Delaware, with the celebrities broadcasting exclusively from the LA studio, according to a source who has seen recent convention plans.
A number of participants have been sent kits by mail that they can set up in their homes to be used for the roll call and response shots, which producers will check out from a production truck set up in Wilmington to create a virtual live audience feel .
In addition to the celebrity votes, programming will also include Americans from across the country throughout the week in a variety of ways: through speeches, videos with a large audience, and in some conversations with Biden himself.
Among the videos that the presumptive Democratic nominee will appear all week is a clip aired Monday with a conversation with leaders of racial justice, according to a Democratic official involved in planning.
Democratic planners also aim to be personal stories at the center of the event. When the party announced that the convention would be held virtually, they asked supporters to submit videos explaining why they supported Biden. The party received about 1,000 videos, some of which will be shown as part of the program.
CNN’s Jessica Dean and Dan Merica contributed to this report.
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