Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley (born Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski) is a Polish-American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries from 2009 to 2017, and James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds from 2022. 

Paul grew up surrounded by plant-based family members and made the change to a more compassionate lifestyle himself after watching Netflix’s documentary Cowspiracy. He told VegNews:

“Most of my immediate family is actually plant-based, so I grew up with that influence. Netflix’s Cowspiracy immediately stopped me from eating beef, pork, and all mammals, but I was still occasionally eating fish and sometimes even dairy. I didn’t know any better. Thankfully, I watched even more documentaries and read many books and the choice to go vegan was obvious. Some of my favourite books and documentaries are Eating Animals, The Game Changers, Seaspiracy, and How Not to Die. I’m so proud to be a vegan. It’s the best decision I ever made. For my health and for the world and for the sake of decency and compassion.”

Since going vegan, Paul has used the platform his fame has given him to speak out about animal rights and vegan issues. He also launched a vegan bourbon company and invested in a vegan dog food company after he learnt what was in traditional dog food.