Andy Serkis Says It’s Been Hard Raising His Kids To Be Vegetarian

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by Michael dEstries February 10, 2009
Categories: Eats
Tags: .

serkis_vegActor Andy Serkis — who most people will recognize as the man who brought Gollum to life in The Lord of the Rings trilogy — has spoken out in a recent interview about how difficult it’s been to raise his kids vegetarian. “We tried to bring our children up vegetarian,” he says. “And it was fine until they start mixing with other kids and going back to the houses and having hot dogs. Rather than kind of going ‘You’re not going to eat hot dogs,’ we said they can wait until they can make their mind up and let them decide where they want to go. It’s kind of pointless to push them at this point. I know that there are great parents who are very good and manage that side of it well, but that’s not the way it’s gone for us.”

Serkis also revealed that while shooting Rings in New Zealand, he switched from being a vegetarian to a pescetarian. “I was a vegetarian until playing Gollum, at which time I started eating fish,” he says. “Copious amounts of fish. Actually, while I was in New Zealand I completely ran out of energy, and needed protein quickly, so I started eating fish. And of course in New Zealand the fish is very great. I don’t eat meat. Lorraine, my wife, she’s the same as well.”

You can read the rest of the interview here. How ’bout it, parents? Have you found raising kids VEG to be a bit of a challenge when it comes to mixing in other households?


Categories: Eats
Tags: .

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • http://www.veganjapan.net herwin

    i agree with him, kids have to make their own choiches, wether to eat meat, smoke crack, rob old ladies on the street. The idea of parents telling their kids what they can and cannot do is just sickening ! DUH.
    seriously, the guy is obviously weak, one of those “last week i was veggie, this week i am pescatariano (..), next week..uuh, i dunnow”
    with “they can make there own choiche” he actually means ” i cant handle my kids !”

  • hil

    You can’t force your kids to be anything. They are individuals. All you can do is set an example for them and hope they follow it and love and support them for who they are. I think it is better to show some flexability so that his kids don’t grow up to resent the veg. lifestyle.

  • http://buycounterblues.blogspot.com cris

    Having kids… there’s the real problem… overpopulation.

    –c!

  • s

    i don’t think his kids would eat hot dogs if the told them what was in the things, and how the animals that went into that chunk of meat got treated. veiwing a couple of peta vids totally cured me of any desire to ever eat meat…ever.
    he might not be able to force his kids to go veg, but he could probably try a little harder. also, he could set an example and not eat fish, which IS a kind of meat. there are nonanimal sources of protein, such as peanut butter, hummas, black beans and even eggs and milk.

  • steph

    I agree with the above. You lead by example and i don’t feel the kids were really educated properly. plus i would think if the parent of friends would be aware that your child normally doesn’t eat meat, they would not offer it?

    i dunno. kids will make their own choices and at least they tried more then many parents, but i don’t think my sis will find it hard with her child….I’ll let you know in a few years XD

  • Matt

    He says: “I started eating fish… “I don’t eat meat.”

    Does he think that fish are made out of broccoli?

  • liz

    i have a seven month old and i don’t think that it will be easy to raise him as a vegan, because his father is a meateater. i imagine that dinner will be confusing for him to see daddy eating flesh and mommy eating soy. however i think that kids have a natural tendency to love animals and feel true compassion, so maybe he will side with mommy.

  • http://susnasty.tumblr.com Susanne

    I think there’s no other choice than to let your kids decide. Obviously you have to educate them fully about meat and what goes into it, and hope they’ll make the right decision, but when they are young, there’s no way you can control everything they do–it’s just not fair to their social life.

    I do agree that his pesco comment was a little bit eyebrow-raising.

  • ellesar

    I am really surprised that he has been so feeble about this. His kids went to my old school in a middle class and liberal part of London. Vegetarianism is accepted and understood, and even if it isn’t – as where I live for example – if it is important enough you will just do it. And hot dogs! Talk about the most disgusting food for your child to eat! Even if you do not give a toss about the ethical aspect at least have some respect for the health of your kids!
    My kids are veg from birth and they do not have any wish to have animals in their diet. My older boy did have a phase when he was 5 of saying that he wanted to eat meat, but he never actually did it, and the younger one has never bothered at all.

    NZ is not the most veg friendly place, but it is by no means hard – generally this article has lowered my opinion of Serkis, who I think is a great actor, but a piss poor vegetarian!

  • Becky

    Let me first say that I don’t have kids (nor do I want kids), so this is coming from someone who hasn’t been through it…

    But I think it would be ideal to raise your kids in a vegan household, explaining to them (in age appropriate ways) why your family makes this choice. No, you can’t control what they do at a friend’s house, but similar to drugs or alcohol – if you teach them the right way, you have to trust that they make the right decisions.

    Simply giving up seems like a cop-out and someone who doesn’t want to take the time or responsibility to teach their kids the reasoning behind veganism.

  • Yasmin

    Raising kids as vegetarians is not difficult. I have a 2 and 6 year old and right away we started to eat lots of veggies, beans, grains, etc. If you start them out right then they will eat their veggies. The 6 year old goes to school and has lots of interaction with other kids, but I explained to her why we are vegetarian and she has decided that she wants to also make the choice to be vegetarian. You can’t force your kids to eat a certain way, but if you lead by example, the kids usually follow. I mean are you really going to make chicken for a kid under two, just so that they can make their own decision. The time will come when they decide for themselves what type of food they want to eat. One more thing…Tofu dogs are awesome, so don’t give me that hotdog BS.

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