Tobias Vincent Maguire (what an awesome name), is known by most people as Tobey Maguire. He is an American actor and film producer and is best known for playing the role of Peter Parker in the Spiderman films.
Tobey had a difficult start in life, like a lot of us, but he found an outlet in acting that took him away into another world. When Tobey was 2 his parents divorced, this meant that he had to spend most of his childhood living between his parents and other relative's homes. As a child he had wanted to be a chef but his mum wasn't happy about this and, to change his mind, she offered him$100 to take drama classes instead of cooking lessons. He enjoyed acting so much that he decided to leave school early to start a career in acting.
Tobey has been a vegetarian since 1992 and a vegan since 2009. "I’ve never had any desire to eat meat. In fact, when I was a kid I would have a really difficult time eating meat at all," he told Parade during an interview.
Tobey was serious about not exploiting animals and it went beyond just not eating meat. While making a film in Australia, he was given a Mercedes Benz to drive around, but he sent it back because the seats were made of leather. At his home leather is also banned with guests having to take off coats, bags, belts, shoes and any other leather items and leave them at the door.
Tobey takes his veganism very seriously but doesn't take part in any loud activism, you won't find him tweeting or posting videos of animals being mistreated, he doesn't go to demonstrations, but you can find him eating at some of the best vegan restaurants. Being a famous, successful actor has made his veganism intriguing to people and some of the actors that he has worked with have become vegan due to his influence. I'm sure many of his fans have given it a go too.
Tobey Maguire is an example of how living with compassion can bring about positive changes in your own life, the lives of those around you and, of course, the animals that get to live because you chose to eat plants instead.
What do you think about famous vegans? Do you think that they should do more to publicise the importance of a vegan lifestyle or should they just be a living example and not mention veganism unless asked. Let me know what your opinion is in the comments.