Rooney Mara

Patricia Rooney Mara made her acting debut in 2005, and has gone on to star in films, such as the remake A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Social Network and Trash. In 2011 she portrayed Lisbeth Salander, the title character in the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on Stieg Larsson’s Millennium book series. For her performance in the film, she received critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. In 2013, she starred in the thriller Side Effects, the independent drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and the acclaimed sci-fi romantic drama, Her. It was on the set of Her that she met her future romantic partner, Joaquin Phoenix. After a short break from the spotlight, Rooney Mara returned to the silver screen in 2021 in Guillermo del Toro’s critically-acclaimed Nightmare Alley, and a year later starred in the award-winning film, Women Talking.

Why Rooney Mara is vegan

Rooney Mara is vegan for the animals.

Like her older sister, Kate Mara, Rooney Mara became vegan for the animals but also appreciates the health and planetary benefits. She told Harper’s Bazaar in 2018, “I’ve been vegan for seven years, but I’ve been a vegetarian since I was little. It’s better for your health and the environment.”¹Matlin, J. 2018. Rooney Mara Breaks Down Her Beauty Routine. Harper’s Bazaar. Available: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/makeup/a23721690/rooney-mara-beauty-routine/ [Accessed 13 August 2026].

In another interview, Rooney said that she’s been vegetarian “on and off” since she was nine years old but in 2011 someone sent her an undercover video of a pig farm, which “led to another horrible video and another horrible video.” She has identified as an ethical vegan ever since.²Siegel, E. 2018. New Label Hiraeth Enters the Vegan Fashion Fold. Coveteur. Available: https://coveteur.com/rooney-mara-vegan-clothing-accessory-line-hiraeth [Accessed 13 August 2026]. As a result Mara launched a vegan clothing and accessory line called Hireath to “take a stand against leather, silk, fur, and wool.”

In 2018, she also collaborated with other celebrity vegans including her partner Joaquin Phoenix and Sadie Sink to narrate the animal rights documentary Dominion, for which she was awarded the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.

Rooney Mara doesn’t just talk the talk, she also walks the walk having gone undercover on factory farms for a 2019 investigation and short film called With My Own Eyes.³Animal Equality. 2019. Rooney Mara Investigates Factory Farms. Available: https://animalequality.org/campaign/end-factory-farming/with-my-own-eyes/ [Accessed 13 August 2026].

And in 2020, she teamed up with Joaquin again in a Beyond Meat’s Feed a Million campaign.⁴Gardner, C. 2020. Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara Join Beyond Meat’s Feed A Million+ Pledge. Hollywood Reporter. Available: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/joaquin-phoenix-rooney-mara-announce-beyond-meat-partnership-1295341/ [Accessed August 2026]. Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix have two children as of 2026 and are perhaps Hollywood’s most vegan power couple.

“Nothing could have prepared me for what I was to feel, smell, and see with my own eyes when I went undercover on factory farms.”⁵Animal Equality. 2019. Rooney Mara Investigates Factory Farms. Available: https://animalequality.org/campaign/end-factory-farming/with-my-own-eyes/ [Accessed 13 August 2026].