When exposed to characters eating in film, on television or in literature, I can’t help but assess if they are vegan. And if they are carnivores, I question if they need to be – is it integral to the character’s nature? How much toast does an Eastender have to eat? And is that cow-udder butter? Are vegan actors challenging on-screen food choices? I found myself wondering how many vegan TV characters are there?

Frankenstein’s Monster

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein, drew from the radical Romantic era, favouring a plant-based diet. In today’s age, Shelley’s monster would be vegan, but the term ‘vegan’ wasn’t coined until 1944 by Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society

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“My food is not that of man. I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment.” Frankenstein’s monster.

Not such a monster! 

Tyrion Lannister

Okay, I’m getting creative, but hear me out. Actor Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion in Game of Thrones, is an advocate of animal rights and turned from vegetarian to vegan in 2014. As far as Tyrion Lannister goes, I only remember him consuming wine (let’s assume it’s vegan wine). Tyrion is full of compassion, wit and bravery in a world of violence and pain. He is one of the goodies. Well, relatively.

A lot of the GoT cast are vegan activists, including Natalie Emmanuel, who challenges elephant tourist attractions*; Jerome Flynn, who is a patron of the animal campaigning group Viva!; Masie Williams, who campaigns for ending cosmetic animal testing; Lena Heady, who has worked with PETA to urge fans not to support animal circuses; and Bella Ramsey, the youngest of this inspiring bunch, who self-describes as vegan and shows social media support for vegan environmental activist Greta Thunberg.

*Virtual reality is an ethical alternative to exploring animals in the wild. 

Madison (Splash, 1984)

Ron Howard’s cult classic 1980s rom-com stars Daryl Hannah, who plays a mermaid, and is a vegan in real life. The character wasn’t written as vegan, and it was reported in Mental Floss that Hannah got very upset with the scene where her character was supposed to eat lobster. The director “scooped out the lobster meat, and replaced it with baked potato and hearts of palm.” 

Public-speaker environmentalist and patron of Viva! Hannah chooses veganism due to factory farming’s devastating contribution to climate change and the inhumane treatment that animals receive: “I literally lost the ability to disassociate what was on my plate from the creature it had been.”

Okay, so this entry was not a fully-realised vegan. I suppose what I am finding is that there aren’t many vegan characters in fiction (I’m not counting the harmful tropes written into certain shows). However, I think we’ll see an increase in veganism added into fiction as more and more people go plant-based. Writers will, by default, write vegan dishes, just as writers routinely describe steak or scrambled eggs. 

Lisa Simpson

Lisa Simpson: The ultimate revolutionary in one of the biggest shows ever aired, The Simpsons. Lisa equates the lamb she meets on a family trip to a petting farm with the lamb she gets served for dinner. Realising that meat has a face, her curious nature sets her on a quest to learn more. Mocked by classmates and called an “agitator” by her principal for asking for meat-free options at school.

This iconic cartoon character has inspired many watchers, including an Instagram account, Vegan Lisa, where a toy Lisa eats out at vegan establishments. In 1995, former Beatles star Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda, were featured in a heartwarming episode to promote vegetarianism to a broader audience. Strictly speaking, Lisa is vegetarian, but people have been petitioning The Simpsons to transition Lisa to veganism. This would modernise the show and align with Lisa’s empathetic nature. There’s no way Lisa would not be vegan now! 

Vincent the Vegetable Vampire

I couldn’t write this and not include the charming Vincent the Vegetable Vampire played by Morgan Freeman. As part of a kids’ educational sketch show by The Electric Company in the 70s, this recurring character became the show’s most popular. Aiming to encourage children to eat their veggies. 

Morgan Freeman, an environmentalist, recently converted his 124-acre ranch in Mississippi into a bee sanctuary – taking care of them without harvesting honey or disrupting the beehives. 

Freeman uses his resources in response to the decline of bees. If you have a garden, you can do something as simple as not cutting your grass and allowing wildlife to grow so that pollinators have more resources, as featured recently in V-Land. We can all do something within our capacities to act towards creating a fairer and more sustainable future, whether that is voting with your money by consuming ethical products, petitioning your politicians for animal rights, or having conversations with friends and colleagues to promote environmental awareness. 

It’s important to remember that no step is too small – significant changes are born from small collective shifts.

If you’ve not watched Vincent, treat yourself here.  

… Bonus Entry

Hannibal Lecter… oops, like most people, I nearly forgot we humans are animals… 

For more vegan literature inspiration check out our recent interviews with Ashland Creek Press on writing for animals and award-winning vegan author Ray Star on writing for nature. If you have a favourite vegan character from film, TV, or literature, let us know on Instagram or Twitter, we’d love to hear from you!