30 celebrities you didn’t know were vegan
Whether they’re ‘vanity vegans’, doing it for the environment, or animal lovers, vegans are everywhere – from vegans in the LGBT community (Simon Amstell, Ellen Page, Laverne Cox and Sara Gilbert), to movie stars like Michelle Pfeiffer and Woody Harrelson, and musicians including Bryan Adams and Stevie Wonder.
Here’s our list of 30 celebrities you may not have known are meat-free:
1. Courtney Act
Celebrity Big Brother contestant Courtney Act is, in her own words, “a Prius driving, vegan, pansexual, polyamorous, genderfluid, Burner hippy child who is passionate about human rights, the environment and Justin Bieber whom she one day hopes to marry”.
Back in 2015, she wrote on Twitter: “I am vegan because it’s better for me, better for the environment and better for the animals!”
2. Simon Amstell
Gay comedian Simon Amstell is so vegan he made a vegan mockumentary for the BBC called Carnage. Set in a utopian 2067, it follows kind young people who are horrified that their grandparents ate meat and drank milk.
On his own veganism, he told VICE: “If you don’t feel empathy for the cow or the pig who is having its throat cut or being shot in the head, even though these are animals which definitely feel pain… if you don’t feel that and aren’t concerned or upset by what is happening on a mass scale, then I just don’t know.”
3. Pamela Anderson
Baywatch star Pamela Anderson is a committed animal advocate and vegan. She has repeatedly collaborated with PETA on animal rights campaigns, and sells vegan products on her website – including eco fur.
Pammie works with charities including PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Sea Shepherd, Last Chance for Animals, California Wildlife Center, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) – and the rest.
4. James Cromwell
After starring as gentle farmer Arthur Hoggett in Babe, James Cromwell became a hardcore vegan. As well as narrating animal rights documentary Farm to Fridge, he got arrested during a protest against experiments on cats.
He told VICE: “We had a little pig that was brought out for the last scene, during the pig contest. It had gone through the training that all the other little pigs had along the line. When that little pig was put down on that big pitch and saw the blue sky and the green grass and the sea, that pig just took off, and I said, I don’t want any part of this. I am out.”
5. Moby
Musician Moby has been vegan for over 30 years. He wrote about his decision to go plant-based in Rolling Stone, explaining: “My reason for becoming a vegetarian was simple: I loved (and love) animals and I don’t want to be involved in anything that leads to or contributes to their suffering.
“Then I thought, ‘I don’t want to contribute to animal suffering. But the cows and chickens in commercial dairy and egg farms are pretty miserable, so why am I still eating milk and eggs?’ So in 1987 I gave up all animal products and became a vegan.”
6. Bryan Adams
Late last year, singer-songwriter Bryan Adams took to social media to promote veganism: “I stopped eating animals including fish when I was 28 and I’ve never looked back. (You can get all the protein you need from plants.)
“It’s great to see the change that is happening as people embrace a more plant based diet, but we still have a long way to go. If you want to see your health improve and you care about the planet, go vegan PS: you can’t be a true environmentalist if you eat animals!”
7. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus – aka ‘The Veganest Vegan to Ever Vegan’ – went vegan after the death of her dog Floyd back in 2013.
She has a ‘Vegan for life’ tattoo, and is always sticking up for animals on social media, recently writing alongside a photo of a cow and a dog: “If you choose to eat meat… you love PETS not ANIMALS.”
Miley also founded the Happy Hippie Foundation, a philanthropic venture designed to raise funds and awareness for homeless and LGBT youth. So yeah, she’s brilliant.
8. Alan Cumming
Scottish actor and gay icon Alan Cumming spoke to PETA in an exclusive video in which he stated: “I am not a dairy queen.”
He revealed that quitting meat and dairy increased his energy and reduced his environmental impact.
Earlier this year, he sent Argyll and Bute Council a package of Cavi-art (vegan caviar) alongside a letter urging them to reject a proposal for an intensive caviar farm that would keep sturgeons confined in stressful conditions.
9. Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer (also known as the most glorious woman in the world) is a vegan, though she admitted “it’s all about vanity”.
Speaking to Urbanette, Michelle said: “Eating a vegan diet — it’s just so much healthier — and you avoid a lot of toxins that could age your skin and your body. I really noticed a difference in my skin not too long after switching to fully vegan. And I needed to eat are fruits and vegetables to stay lean.
“It’s all about vanity, honestly,” she added. “I’ve never really loved animal protein in terms of animal meat. I only ate it because I used to think it was good for me.”
10. Sia
Australian singer-songwriter Sia announced she was vegan in 2014, with a simple tweet. She wrote: “I will! I’m fully vegan now!”
She also tweeted about Vegucated – an American documentary film that explores the challenges of converting to a vegan diet.
“Vegucated is available on Netflix and also iTunes,” Sia wrote. “I’m really curious to see what you guys think about it, if you decide to watch it! Do it!”
11. Sara Gilbert
Big Bang and Roseanne star Sara Gilbert has been a vegetarian since she was 13 and went vegan later down the line. Sara, who also hosts The Talk, wrote the book The Imperfect Environmentalist: A Practical Guide to Clearing Your Body, Detoxing Your Home and Saving the Earth (Without Losing Your Mind).
She married singer-songwriter and fellow vegan Linda Perry back in 2014 – and the menu at their wedding was strictly vegan.
12. Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande has been vegan since 2013, and told The Mirror: “I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding.
“But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-around happier person,” she added.
13. Liam Hemsworth
The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth previously told Men’s Fitness: “After all the information I gathered about the mistreatment of animals, I couldn’t continue to eat meat. The more I was aware of, the harder and harder it was to do.”
However, rather than crediting his fiancée Miley Cyrus, Hemsworth revealed it was Woody Harrelson (we’ll get to him later) who enlightened him…
“I have a lot of friends who are vegan. Woody Harrelson was actually one of the original reasons I became vegan, because he’s been vegan for, I don’t know, 30 years or something,” Hemsworth explained.
14. Natalie Portman
Actress Natalie Portman opened up about her meat-free existence in a speech at last year’s Environmental Media Awards, also urging people to watch her documentary Eating Animals.
She explained: “Factory farming is responsible for most of the air, water, and land pollution — that disproportionately affects our poor communities as well. So we get to make decisions three times a day, what we do with our planet, and you can make a difference by even once a day or once a week choosing not to eat animals or animal products.”
15. Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix has worked with PETA over the years, helping the charity to expose wool producers, the trade in dog leather, the exotic-skins industry, and much more.
He also executive produced Netflix documentary What the Health, which looks at the health impact of meat and dairy products, and narrated Earthlings, another documentary about the suffering endured by animals at factory farms, research labs, puppy mills, and other vile places.
16. RZA
Back in 2014, Wu Tang’s RZA made a video for PETA UK explaining why he went vegan.
“I don’t need a dead animal or dead piece of flesh to go into my live body”, RZA said. “I had animals as friends. They was happy to see me in their own animal way. I’m quite sure they did not want to be on my plate.”
17. Elliot Page
Elliot Page admittedly hasn’t said all that much on the topic of veganism.
However, some years ago, he made this excellent point on Twitter: “Why are vegans made fun of while the inhumane factory farming process regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit?”
18. Alicia Silverstone
Vegan actress Alicia Silverstone has joined several PETA campaigns over the years, and shared her plant-based recipes in her vegan cookbook The Kind Diet.
“Knowing the truth about where our food comes from is just so disturbing to me,” Alicia said in a video for the non-profit Farm Sanctuary’s Compassionate Meals program. “Once you see it, there’s no way to go back from that for me.”
19. Jessica Chastain
Actress Jessica Chastain revealed that when she went vegan over 12 years ago, she had “more energy than I’ve ever had in my life”.
“Being vegan was not anything I ever wanted to be. I just really was listening to what my body was telling me,” she told W.
20. Kate Mara
Animal lover Kate Mara, who starred in Netflix’s House of Cards, previously told The Independent: “People always assume if you’re vegetarian you can just live on cheese and meanwhile cheese is awful for your body even if tastes so good.
“I’m a massive animal lover too,” she continued. “Being vegan has been so good for me. I’ve never felt better.”
21. Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson is a raw vegan and eco-radical, though he previously admitted he doesn’t “find that people come around to my way of thinking”.
He told WENN: “It’s very hard to talk someone out of a burger if they like burgers. I don’t try to do it but if people ask me about dairy I’ll go on a little dissertation, I’ll get on the stump.
“Otherwise I don’t think there’s any value in lecturing someone about what they’re eating even though I watch people who are literally eating themselves into an early grave and I just want to say, ‘You should not be doing that. Don’t put that into your mouth!'”
22. Rooney Mara
Like her sister Kate, Rooney is also a vegan.
Talking to Interview Magazine, she revealed: “I try to eat food that hasn’t been washed in ammonia and then packaged in the shape of breaded dinosaurs filled with cheese—even though those are very tasty.
“I like to eat food that can actually make it through the 20-plus feet of my small intestine.”
23. MYA
As well as posting loads of vegan snaps on her Instagram, singer-songwriter Mya told SOHH: “I try not to go too hard but I am a hardcore vegan.
“This is brand new for me. It’s almost year two. I’m a freshie and I’m learning a lot as I go and I surround myself around other people that teach me all types of things and what I can possibly use or where to go. There’s vegan wine festivals and vegan food festivals.”
“It’s definitely helping me because I don’t have to work out as hard. I still have to maintain a healthy physique so I still have work to do but it’s just not as difficult and I look better and feel better than I did a couple of years ago when I was not vegan,” she added.
24. Jenna Dewan Tatum
Jenna Dewan Tatum gave up meat as a child, when she watched a programme about slaughterhouses.
“I just remember being blown away, utterly traumatised. And I declared the next day that I was never eating meat again. And I didn’t – it started then,” she told the LA Times.
“My daughter is a vegetarian, and my husband [Channing Tatum] tried to become vegan, but it didn’t work out for him,” she revealed. “But I certainly encourage veganism, not just for our health, but for the environment and also for the ethical and moral reasons.”
25. Stevie Wonder
During an interview with AOL at Global Green’s Annual Pre-Oscar Party in 2016, musician Stevie Wonder chatted about his vegan diet.
“I’ve been a vegan for two years, so that’s helped my already good-looking self,” he joked. “I think that eating healthy is important.”
He even appeared on Carpool Karaoke with James Corden and sang a little song called: “Go vegan!”
26. Beau Bridges
Actor Beau Bridges (yep, he’s Jeff Bridges’ brother) explains in his Twitter bio: “I am an actor, author, director, producer, musician, gardener, vegan, eco warrior & advocate for @WishtoyoChumash.”
He regularly tweets about his vegan meals: “I prepared a wonderful #vegan pasta dish w/ truffle sauce, peppers, corn & squash for my wife w/ a nice #zin,” he wrote in one.
“My #vegan contribution for dinner. Eggplant, avocado, cashews, garlic, onion, squash cucumber, wrapped in nori #family,” Beau shared in another tweet.
27. Al Gore
Yep, Albert Arnold Gore Jr – who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 – is a vegan.
“Over a year ago I changed my diet to a vegan diet, really just to experiment to see what it was like,” he told Medscape in 2014. “And I felt better, so I continued with it. Now, for many people, that choice is connected to environmental ethics and health issues and all that stuff, but I just wanted to try it to see what it was like.
“In a visceral way, I felt better, so I’ve continued with it and I’m likely to continue it for the rest of my life.”
28. Mayim Bialik
Big Bang actress Mayim Bialik is an advocate for the plant-based lifestyle – and since she has a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA in real life, it means she’s so clever we should listen to her.
“One of the main inspirations for me towards a decision to complete veganism was Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals,” she said in a video for PETA.
Mayim, who wrote the cookbook Mayim’s Vegan Table in 2014, added: “It was really after that book that I had both the education and the confidence and the personal conviction to be able to say I don’t know where to draw the line any more, I’m not gonna draw it. I’m gonna step over the line and there’s been no turning back.”
29. Laverne Cox
Actress and LGBT activist Laverne Cox, who plays trans character Sophia Burset in Orange is the New Black, announced she’d gone vegan in October 2017.
“Found out today that @rubyrose and I are both Vegan. It’s only been 12 weeks for me but I feel so much better,” she wrote on Instagram, alongside a video of herself with co-star Ruby Rose.
30. Ruby Rose
Meanwhile, Ruby Rose, who stars as Stella Carlin in OITNB, was crowned one of PETA’s sexiest vegan celebrities last year.
Although she initially struggled to go fully vegan due to hyperthyroidism, and because she was still wearing leather, she finally made the leap.
“Yes.. because sober and because Vegan.. and because skin care and sleep haha and now we drink water not gin.. well.. I drink water,” she said on Twitter.
