‘Black Mirror’ Season 7’s Cast Secret: Plant-Based Food

Black Mirror is back with a seventh season of mind-bending, dystopian, and often harrowing episodes for millions to binge on Netflix. The Emmy-winning sci-fi series has a knack for blurring the line between fiction and reality—sometimes even eerily predicting the future—which is part of what keeps viewers hooked. But another thing you can always count on with Black Mirror? A star-studded cast.

And this season, it’s especially fitting that a show so focused on the future features actors who are forward-thinking in real life, too. Stars like Chris O’Dowd, Cristin Milioti, and Siena Kely, aren’t just incredibly talented—they’re also powered by plants (mostly, anyway). Read on to meet Black Mirror’s most iconic stars who prioritize plant-based foods.

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Chris O’ Dowd

In the new season of Black Mirror, O’Dowd stars in the first episode, “Common People,” in which he plays Mike, a laborer who signs his wife up for a subscription service with a medical technology company after she is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Spoiler alert: all is not what it seems. The prices just keep rising, forcing Mike to make some unenviable decisions to keep the money coming in.

In real life, O’Dowd, of course, is a beloved actor (known for his roles in The IT Crowd and Bridesmaids), but he has also recently lent his voice to a campaign by the dairy-free brand Califia Farms. In, frankly, a Black Mirror-esque turn of events, O’Dowd helped the brand record The Green Album, a collection of meditative affirmations designed for humans and houseplants. 

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O’Dowd said he was drawn to the brand’s quirky campaign because he loves cold brew with Califia Farms creamer, as well as nurturing his plants. “Tending to my favorite plants, overly positive affirmations, and a lovely cup of Califia Farms cold brew and creamer—that’s a decent way to start the day,” he said. 

Tracee Ellis Ross

Ross also stars alongside O’Dowd in “Common People,” in which she plays the sales representative who sells Mike the unmanageable medical subscription service. Like O’Dowd, Ross isn’t vegan, but she does prioritize plant-based foods. 

In 2020, Ross told People, for example, that she avoids dairy and favors whole food ingredients above all others. “I have this philosophy on eating—it not only has to taste good in my mouth, but also feel good in my body,” she said. “So a lot of things that taste good in my mouth don’t feel good in my body.”

Ross has prioritized health and nutrition for a long time. In 2011, she told The New York Times: “I eat well and drink lots of water, and I get my sleep. I like eight hours. I barely eat sugar, gluten or dairy, even though I love all three. I don’t drink soda or caffeine—never have,” she said.

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Cristin Milioti

Cristin Milioti, who stars in the season seven episode “USS Callister: Into Infinity” (a sequel to season six’s “USS Callister”), told The New York Times in 2022 that she follows a plant-based diet. During the interview, she expressed her fondness for hoagies from convenience store Wawas. “The meat is possibly not meat,” she said. “It’s like cheese-colored or turkey-colored material. Sadly, I can’t eat them anymore because I’m vegan now.”

Emma Corrin

Corrin stars in “Hotel Reverie” alongside Issa Rae—the episode revolves around ReDream, a new technology that allows people to reshoot classic movies with modern actors. Corrin hasn’t spoken about their diet publicly, but they have been spotted at plant-based foodie spots, like Gracias Madre in Los Angeles, for example. The West Hollywood restaurant specializes in vegan Mexican cuisine, serving up everything from hearts of palm ceviche to grilled lion’s mane tacos. In a previous interview, Corrin has also spoken about their love for traditional Italian parmigiana, which is a vegetarian eggplant-based dish.

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Siena Kely

Siena Kely’s Black Mirror episode is “Bête Noire,” a dark comedy that revolves around a candy bar focus group and two old school friends. In real life, Kely would opt for dairy-free chocolate because she’s 100 percent plant-based. She told The Big Issue in 2024 that she hasn’t eaten animal products for eight years, and it’s a key part of her spirituality and wellness journey.

“I am on this quest to live more in sync with the planet,” she said. “So I’m getting my yoga teacher training certificate in May. I’ve been a vegan for eight years. I love herbalism. I meditate on a daily basis. Witching is an earth religion, just connecting to the planet. It is quite anti-capitalist. I am absolutely a believer in that.”