HOWZAT

After the yoga class Woody takes me to Planet Raw, a cafe in Santa Monica that calls itself “the first living vegan organic restaurant”. I tell him I’ve never eaten at a “raw” restaurant before. With all sincerity, as though he’s prepared the food himself, Woody says: “Aw, I hope you like it.”

We order endives stuffed with pine-nut cheese, a wild-mushroom stew, Thai soup, salad with black-truffle dressing, an elixir of fuji apple, ginger, pomegranate and lime, lasagne with macadamia ricotta and zucchini noodles, and pesto pizza with deep-dish crust. “For food-combining purposes,” the restaurant recommends eating dessert first, so before we dig into all that, we have a pumpkin “cheesecake” and some chocolate-liquid “s’mores” (layered biscuits). The food has hues not normally seen at meals: obscure pinks and purples and greens, like dinner on Venus.

Between bites of truffle salad I say to Woody: “I read somewhere that you have life licked.” He says: “Sometimes I do feel that way. Inside my circle of family and friends, I feel great about everything. But there’s so much f***ed about the world, particularly the industries that make up the American world economy being the puppet masters to all the politicians. Then us, below that, saying what the hell are we gonna do? And that I find so intensely frustrating.”

We talk for a while about his activist work, about corporate greed, the uselessness of jailing people for victimless crimes. But with Woody, the conversation inevitably turns back to the environment. “It’s like we’re all on the Titanic,” he says. “And it’s a wonderful party and the violins are playing. Yeah, we feel a big bump, we may even have heard somebody shout, ‘We hit something,’ but it’s the Titanic. We can’t go down. Listen to some music, drink more wine. And I’m all for that. The party of life. But on the other hand, I’d seriously have to be lacking sensitivity to not be aware that we’re in major trouble right now.”

A woman approaches the table. “Hi, Woody,” she says. “How ya doin’?” he says enthusiastically, as if he’s known her his whole life. “I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the documentary you did about no corn dogs.” “Oh, go further.” “It was awesome.” “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

When she leaves Woody tells me how he plans to go even further. “As soon as I get a period when I’m not working, I’m going to go to a small island in Hawaii, a really remote place, and drink the water right from the stream. And then consume nothing else for 40 days. I’ve always wanted to do it. I mean, I don’t take it lightly. I know it’s gonna be hard. But can you imagine? Eating nothing for 40 days? Swimming and surfing every day in a remote place? Where does the mind go?”

Joe Hickey is the grandson of a Kentucky hemp farmer.

In the early 1990s he became one of the state’s leading advocates for growing hemp. He persuaded the governor to start a task force and got the Kentucky state senate to allow hemp crops. But the movement got bogged down in the state legislature and Hickey needed help. “My son answered the phone one day,” says Hickey, “and said, ‘Dad, Woody Harrelson’s on the phone.’

I answered the phone, and it sure sounded like Woody. We hit it off. That was on a Monday. He came in on a Friday, was gonna stay two days, ended up staying four, and had his wife flown in.”

From there, Hickey and Harrelson hatched a plot. They called in the police and media to watch Woody plant hemp seeds, which led to Woody’s arrest, which led to an epic trial, which led to Woody getting off and the limited legalisation of hemp as a crop in Kentucky. Hickey became the head of Tierra Madre, Woody’s company that helps develop alternative eco-friendly technologies, and helps run Voiceyourself.com, Woody’s website. And they became the best of friends. “Woody’s such an affable character,” Hickey says. “He moves through the world with ease. There is nobody in the world that is more honest than he is. If you ask Woody a question, he’s going to tell you the answer. He’s not going to beat around the bush.”

Woody’s collection of friends would be the envy of anyone: Owen Wilson, Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Matthew McConaughey, Willie Nelson, and just about anyone else who’s ever met him. “He’s not a guy who’s gonna keep you out of his life,” says Tom Ballanco, an activist attorney who’s worked with Woody on many causes. “He’s fun to be around. Not in the sense that it’s always a party, though there is that aspect. It’s more often going to the beach or doing yoga. It’s fun because he’s right there. I’ve seen him converse with presidents, janitors, people on the street, and that alone is quite an attribute.”

What Ballanco really admires about Woody is, unlike some celebrities, he’s no armchair activist. “He really lives the life he’s advocating. He gets a lot of respect from a lot of actors and other celebrities higher up on the list.”

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