Russell Crowe and Darren Aronofsky: A Dynamic Duo for Animals

We have another reason to crow about the film Noah, besides the fact that the kind director, Darren Aronofsky, made the kind choice to present the animals two-by-two via computer-generated imagery instead of using live animals. The film’s star, Russell Crowe, went on LIVE With Kelly and Michael and enthusiastically supported Darren’s choice: “The decision, when you stand back from it and think about it, it’s the most humane decision he could have made. And he’s very much an animal lover himself—he’s a PETA activist. And so to have live animals in that studio in Williamsburg day after day would have put them under a lot of pressure, so it’s kind of cool that he did that.” We agree, and we’ll be among the throngs of people rushing to see Noah this weekend.

In other celebrity news:

• Is his role as Nick Fury starting to rub off on Samuel L. Jackson? Thanks to the Infinity Formula, Nick ages slowly and has the looks and liveliness of a man half his age. And it seems that Samuel has found his own Infinity Formula. While he’s been promoting Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there’s been plenty of talk about the 65-year-old actor’s physique. Asked by a reporter what his secret is, Samuel answered, “It’s a new vegan diet.” And he added, “Just trying to live forever. Trying to finish out my Marvel deal.”
• Another star whose strength is all veggie-powered? Blue Bloods actor Sami Gayle.
• Every week, more and more people are discovering that meat-free is the way to be, but don’t take our word for it. Take it from celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who talked to Rachael Ray about his most-requested dishes. “You know, it’s amazing how tastes have changed in this country,” he said. “We know that vegetarianism has really grown a lot, but my number one entrée is that vegetarian paella, and then on the appetizer side, there’s a potato dish and an eggplant dish that are the number one and two. So people are just eating vegetables like crazy.”
• First, she strutted her stuff in the buff to protest fur, and now Brigitte Nielsen is partnering with PETA Germany to ask her home country, Denmark, to stop shooting, stabbing, and mutilating pigs in military training exercises. In a letter to Denmark’s minister of defense, Nicolai Wammen, Brigitte wrote, “Treating animals in this way is impossible to justify medically, ethically or educationally and does immense damage to Denmark’s international reputation.”

• Animal-friendly Los Angeles City Council Member Bernard Parks will appear in an upcoming episode of The Bold and the Beautiful. This past week, he filmed his scene at the South L.A. Animal Shelter, which he was instrumental in bringing to the area. Details of Bernard’s role aren’t being released, but we do know that he’ll be advocating animal rescue as two of the show’s characters go to the shelter to adopt their new animal companion.
• When PETA released the disturbing findings of our investigation into the seedy underside of the horse-racing industry, we asked our celebrity supporters to help us spread the message far and wide. And did they ever. The investigation was covered by countless publications and was retweeted numerous times:

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.