32 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Totally Vegan

Being a vegan — or at least trying out a vegan diet — is getting mighty trendy. And as annoying as diet trends can be, in this case, that's a good thing. Because when it comes to our environment, health, and the rights of animals, adopting a vegan diet is an all-around win. Yes, eating vegan might also make you look great, and if that's the motivation for some people and celebrities who are vegan, then I say whatever diminishes the animal agriculture industry is a good thing. But while some celebrities, like Beyonce and Jay-Z, have recently adopted a part-time vegan diet, others have been at it for longer or more consistently — and have gone all the way to full-time veganism.

But if you look up the Wikipedia page listing vegan celebrities, a quick Google fact check will reveal that it's not exactly accurate. Of course, it's a full-time job to keep track of which celebrities are currently vegan, especially when their habits and stances may be changing quickly. Luckily, my contacts at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have someone whose job is to do just that. I got in touch, asking for the most up-to-date list of verified vegan celebrities they have, and here's a list of just some of the many celebrity names they sent me.

So here you go. As of this article's publication, here are 32 celebrities who are currently verified vegans.

1. Ellen Page

Page is a longtime vegan who's outspoken about her reasons for the lifestyle, the main one being her core belief in social justice. As if she couldn't get anymore crush-worthy.

2. Jessica Chastain

The actress has been a a vegetarian for over 15 years, and a vegan for eight.

3. James Cromwell

Cromwell became a vegetarian after filming Babe, which might just be the best reason for switching ever. He's now also a vegan.

4. Alicia Silverstone

A famous animal lover, Silverstone has been vegan since 1998, when she was 21. Before she made the switch, she says she was battling severe asthma, insomnia, acne, and constipation. "I used to have all those white marks on my nails and they were very brittle, and now they're so strong I cannot bend them," she said on Oprah. After adopting a vegan diet, she says those issues cleared up, "and I feel like I look less puffy."

5. Ariana Grande

Grande has been vegan since 2013, and explained her decision to Mirror this way: "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." It sounds [vegan]-cheesy, but it's true.

6. Ellen DeGeneres

I love DeGeneres' explanation above of why she's vegan, because I really relate to it. I too watched the documentary Earthlings , and it also changed my association with eating or wearing animal products forever. DeGeneres has been a vocal animal advocate, and uses her show as a platform to sometimes bring awareness to a mainstream audience.

7. Joaquin Phoenix

Not only has Pheonix been a vegan since age three, but he's also responsible for converting Degeneres and many of the rest of us over to veganism with his powerful narration of the documentary film Earthlings . If someone were to win this list, it would be him.

8. Miley Cyrus

Miley has been vegan since 2014, and says her pet fish and pig inspired her to make the switch. "I realized these are intelligent animals," she told Jimmy Fallon. Her pig is also vegan.

9. Liam Hemsworth

Perhaps it's Miley's influence? Hemsworth actually mostly credits Hunger Games costar Woody Harrelson with opening up his mind. "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 told Men's Health .

"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. About six months ago I went and saw a nutritionist to do a blood-diet analysis. He basically told me, based on my blood type and all the other different little tests they do, that red meat was good for me, and I should eat a lot more red meat and various other foods. So I started doing that, and the more red meat I ate, the worse I felt." It's no secret meat is actually bad for you, and luckily, Hemsworth listened to his body. He's been vegan since 2015.

10. Woody Harrelson

Harrelson has been vegan for over 10 years, and as we saw above, he can also be credited with helping turn Liam Hemsworth even hotter. "It's been all good. I'm obviously much healthier," he said of his diet.

11. Mayim Bialik

The Big Bang Theory ‘s Mayim Bialik even has her own vegan cookbook. She credits Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals with her decision to go vegan.

12. Joan Jett

The frontwoman of the Runaways and the Blackhearts has been vegan since the 1980s: “Twenty years ago I thought: What's the difference between eating a bloody steak and killing my dog, slitting him open and roasting him?"

13. Bellamy Young

The Scandal star went vegan in college. "It came to me in a very strange way. I was at college, it was sophomore year and I got the baked breast of chicken and they sort of plated it weird. As I lowered it down to my tray, it looked exactly like my mom’s little furry yippy dog when she’d roll over and want you to rub her tummy. That was it," she told YouBeauty.

"I think veganism has a branding issue, but other than that, it’s a great way to live. I know a lot of people now like to go with 'plant-based diet' instead. I guess that makes it a little bit more palatable, but for me it was the answer to a myriad of things that weren’t working in my life. I had terrible cystic acne, no energy at all, I didn’t always digest food perfectly."

14. Casey Affleck

Affleck has been vegan for over 15 years, and as you can see above, he's pretty clear about his reasons and outspoken in his activism.

15. Daniella Monet

Monet plays Trina Vega in Victorious on Nickelodeon, and also works as an young activist for PETA.

16. Moby

The musician and famous vegan of over 30 years wrote about his decision to become vegan 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. Simply so that I could eat and live in accordance with my beliefs that animals have their own lives, that they're entitled to their own lives and that contributing to animal suffering is something that I don't want to be a part of."

17. Dawn Richard

When her father was diagnosed with cancer, the musician and former Danity Kane member (flashback!) decided to go vegan to minimize her health risks and is now a self-proclaimed "avocado junkie."

18. Morrissey

Famous for "Meat is Murder," surprisingly, Morrissey only went fully vegan in 2015, after being an outspoken vegetarian for over 30 years.

19. Russell Simmons

"Well, it started with my yoga practice and you know, the practice of non-harming, 'ahimsa,'" Simmons told Al Roker on Today. "So I became a vegan because [of] compassion [for] the animals ... The vegan diet was being discussed around me all the time, so finally, I just made the choice." Love him.

20. Sia

Sia has been vegan since 2014, and it may actually be one of the least quirky things about her.

21. Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder has been vegan since 2015. "I like not eating meat," he says.

22. Pamela Anderson

PETA got a lot of flak for this ad with famed vegan Pamela Anderson, since some saw it as objectifying women. But I think that's exactly the point: We objectify animals and their parts in the same way society tries to reduce women to theirs'. If it upsets us as feminists when people do it to women, it should also upset us when we reduce animals to nothing but parts to be consumed, impregnated, or milked. If you think it's "just different" for animals, know that that's the same logic men have long used against women.

23. RZA

Legendary rapper, producer, and leader of the Wu-Tang Clan tells PETA he's vegan in part because "it doesn't make sense to put "dead flesh" into a "live body."

24. Peter Dinklage

God, as if he weren't cool enough, he's also been a vegetarian since childhood, and is now a vegan, according to PETA.

25. James Cameron

The Titanic director and environmentalist tells it like it is.

26. Kate Mara

The actress has been vegan for over five years, and explains the choice this way: “Every time we sit down to eat, we have a choice. By choosing more meat-free meals, we’re saying ‘yes’ to better health, ‘yes’ to a better environment, and ‘yes’ to better treatment of animals. Being vegan has been so good for me. I’ve never felt better ... I was a meat eater for a long time, and I would have made different choices in my diet if I had known the facts about factory farming. I now feel it’s my moral obligation, and I’m very passionate about educating people on making better, more humane choices when it comes to the food we eat.”

27. Rooney Mara

Veganism seems to run in sisters. “Of course I eat. I eat a lot,” she says. “I love to eat. But I'm a vegan."

28. Al Gore

OK, so maybe he's a politician, but let's be real. Al Gore is also a celebrity — and he is no hypocrite. The environmentalist knows that going vegan is one of the best things he could have done for both his health and the planet.

"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. "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."

29. Evanna Lynch

The Harry Potter actress doesn't just play a loving character — she is also a loving vegan herself. At an acceptance speech in March, Lynch said that “killing and eating animals is a betrayal of our own core humanity,” adding, “killing an innocent goes against our nature."

30. Wacka Flocka Flame

The rapper told Vice in February that he is now vegan because he "didn't want to be fat."

31. Travis Barker

The former Blink 182 drummer has been vegetarian for years, but recently went vegan following a health scare. “I went to the doctor and found that I had eight ulcers in my stomach, and then I found that I had a condition from it, from excessive smoking. I [also] had pre-cancerous cells in my throat. Right there, that was a game changer ... I quit everything immediately. It’s made a difference."

32. Mya

While the singer has implied she was only trying veganism on in the past, Mya told SOHH just this March that she is indeed currently living a fully vegan lifestyle — and that includes clothing. “It is a lifestyle for me and outside of just food, I’m practicing fashion and making sure I’m not wearing leather shoes and I have not worn furs since a long time ago. I have to be very conscious when I’m making decisions and saying I’m vegan because I have to be about it all the way and now that has given me some thought into creating certain things like home décor.”

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article listed Russell Brand, Samuel L. Jackson, Kristin Bell, and Noah Cyrus as "verified vegans". Since publication, it's been brought to the author's attention that there is actually more debate about whether these celebrities are currently fully vegan than sources originally verified. The article has been amended to reflect this by removing their names from the list.

Images: QuickMeme, AZQuote, PETA; VeganScifi