Besides acting, James Cromwell is a recognized animal rights activist—and on Tuesday, he was protesting the extra cost of vegan milk in a New York City Starbucks.
Footage shared by PETA shows the 82-year-old actor with his hand glued to the register counter of a Starbucks. He’s seated next to another man and a woman who’s holding a sign that reads, “More Bucks for Starbucks” and “Stop Upcharging for Vegan Milk.”
Cromwell can be heard chanting along with others, “Save the planet, save the cows, end the vegan upcharge now.” He also reads from a letter about the reasoning behind their demonstration.
“Non-dairy products all over the world…France, they give these things away. There’s no charge for it. Here, there’s an exorbitant charge,” he said. “Why, when it’s so important now to address climate change and to understand the violence to animals to go on to make dairy products that are served here?”
“There’s no reason for it except greed,” he continued. “Will you stop charging more for vegan milk? When will you stop raking in huge profits while customers, animals, and the environment suffer?” He also called the upcharge “senseless.”
Cromwell removed his glued hand from the counter about 30 minutes after the protest began. Police were called to the scene but no one was arrested.
Cromwell currently stars in HBO’s Succession as Uncle Ewan Roy. He’s previously been nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for the 1995 movie Babe and starred in the 1997 best picture nominee LA Confidential. According to Deadline, he switched to vegetarianism in 1974 and later converted to full vegan after playing Farmer Hoggett in Babe. He has been arrested while demonstrating with PETA many times before, as well as in 2017 for protesting the way SeaWorld treats its orcas.
