Some of Canada’s and Hollywood’s brightest stars are banding together to help Babz Chula fight for her life.

Talent including Nicholas Lea (The X-Files, Men in Trees) and Ben Ratner (Mount Pleasant, Last Wedding) have enlisted the likes of David Duchovny and Callum Keith Rennie to help raise funds for the Vancouver-based actress’ fight against cancer.

Chula, who was most recently seen on CBC’s jPod, was diagnosed with breast cancer two and a half years ago. It has since spread to her liver.

To help raise funds for her medical costs, the Babz Chula Lifeline for Artists Society is organizing an online auction through eBay for dinners with stars such as Duchovny, Lea and Rennie, as well as rare memorabilia from shows including X-Files and Corner Gas. The auction starts Wednesday and runs until April 12.

Organizers hope to provide help for other artists in similar positions.

‘It was really Babz who got us to where we are now to have it be a lasting idea,’ Lea tells Playback Daily. ‘She said that it couldn’t just be about her, that it had to be about others in the future, as well. That’s really an insight into the kind of person Babz is.’

Chula has been acting in film and television since the mid-’80s, and has some 100 credits to her name, including The L Word, Last Wedding and Seven Times Lucky.

‘Babz has been many different things to me,’ says Ratner. ‘She’s played my mother, my mother-in-law, my drug dealer, and most recently an aging Spanish whore. She’s a lifelong friend and has really been a big sister to me throughout my time working with her. She’s had that kind of relationship with everyone involved in this society.’

Chula sees this as an opportunity to provide a safety net for future actors and actresses who will need a helping hand.

‘I couldn’t believe that in cases like mine, there’s really nothing out there for us if help is needed,’ Chula says. ‘I was stunned.’

See www.babzchulasociety.org for more information.