“By now, you’ve probably been told to go vegan. Right?” begins James Cromwell in a new video for PETA, in which he solemnly lists the numerous reasons why he’s been vegan for decades — from kindness to animals and a smaller carbon footprint to a boost in health.
But worried that his serious demeanor is doing little to inspire viewers, the Academy Award–nominated actor quickly changes his tone and gets goofy with a helium balloon to capture their attention.
Cromwell shot the ad, available here, at South Florida’s premier vegan gourmet eatery, Sublime Restaurant & Bar, in January, when he was in town to receive PETA’s Hero to Animals Award from owner Nanci Alexander.
He explains that “going vegan lowers your chances of suffering from heart disease, cancers, strokes, and diabetes. And that it’s the best way to end animals’ suffering.”
PETA — whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” — notes that going vegan, which spares more than 100 animals a year daily suffering and a terrifying death, is more effective in combating climate change than switching from a standard car to a hybrid.
Cromwell — a vegetarian since the 1970s and a vegan since starring in Babe — is a longtime PETA supporter who most recently appeared in the group’s religious-themed “Redemption” Super Bowl ad.
