06. James Wilks

Pro MMA fighter, producer of The Game Changers, maker of vegans

Veganism used to have an image problem. Or, more specifically, vegan men, who have often been unfairly characterised as oversensitive and underfed. With his documentary The Game Changers – which was executiveproduced by James Cameron, among others – Wilks ripped this idea up at its roots, arguing not only that meat is expendable in the quest for strength, but that a plant-based diet is actually superior for athletes of all disciplines.

“The response has been incredible,” says Wilks. “Within a week of the film hitting Netflix, the interest in plant-based eating more than tripled worldwide, according to Google Trends metrics.” Among those said to have switched up their diets after watching the film are actor Dolph Lundgren, strongman Hafþór Björnsson and the CEO of sausage roll purveyor Greggs, Roger Whiteside. “We have also had hundreds of very elite athletes reach out to us,” says Wilks. He won’t name names but reveals: “Soccer is one of the big ones.” Some of the film’s admittedly more hubristic claims have been met with scepticism, including by this magazine. Wilks is accepting of this fact, though he feels that the backlash has often been more emotional than analytical: “People are very attached to their meateating. It’s behavioural psychology.”

He would know. A former mixed martial artist, with black belts in tae kwon do, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, there was a time when Wilks believed that eating animal protein at every meal was integral to his health and performance. “That’s backwards thinking,” he says now. “If you really think you need meat to build muscle… that’s just so old-fashioned.”