Animal rights group PETA has recognized two breakout stars, Bella Ramsey and Halle Bailey, as the Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities of 2023, Newsweek can exclusively reveal.
The young actors have had incredible starts to the year so far with Ramsey best known for their role alongside Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us, while Bailey starred as Ariel in the new live-action version of The Little Mermaid.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has given the title of Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrity to a number of stars in previous years, including Jared Leto, Lenny Kravitz, Ruby Rose and Jenna Dewan.
"I'm vegan primarily because I love animals," 19-year-old British actor Ramsey told PETA and Newsweek. "But I also, like most of us, care about the planet. The environmental benefits of going vegan are so significant."
Ramsey, who first came to international acclaim for their role as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, told British Vogue in June 2023 that they identify as nonbinary. "'They pronouns are the most truthful for me. That's who I am most," Ramsey said.
Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement that the actions of both young stars made her hopeful for the future. "Bella Ramsey and Halle Bailey remind everyone to save who you can save by keeping animals off your plate, both on land and under the sea. PETA's Most Beautiful Vegans of 2023 are superstars shining their light on a bright vegan future for Hollywood," she said.
Bailey, 23, is vegan alongside her older sister and musical collaborator Chloe Bailey. She's endured a mixed bag of a year so far with the release of The Little Mermaid, which sparked controversy in some circles as the discussion of Bailey's casting as Ariel was critiqued. When the first footage of the movie was released in 2022, social media users said the casting of a Black actress wasn't in line with the original fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen or the 1989 Disney cartoon, while some argued it wasn't "scientifically" accurate.
The film performed well at the Box Office in Western territories but disappointed in Asian markets. Asian beauty-standard have been pointed at as a possible reason for this, with Chinese state-run news site Global Times accusing Disney of "forced inclusion of minorities."
PETA offer free vegan starter kits for anyone wanting to become vegan like Ramsey and Bailey. As part of the nonprofits' mission statement, they say "animals are not ours to eat" as they "oppose speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview."
Succession actor James Cromwell spoke to Newsweek earlier this year about his own campaigning efforts on behalf of PETA. He's been arrested whilst protesting for them several times.
