Hollywood star George Clooney has become a French citizen along with his wife, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, and their two children, according to an official decree seen by AFP on Monday.
The publication in France’s government gazette confirms a plan Clooney alluded to early in December when he hailed French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi.
“I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses,” the 64-year-old actor told RTL radio at the time – in English.
“Here, they don’t take photos of kids. There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us,” he said.
The now-dual US-French citizen has a long attachment to Europe, which pre-dates his 2014 marriage to Amal, a British-Lebanese human rights lawyer who speaks fluent French.
Clooney owns an estate in Italy’s picturesque Lake Como region, purchased in 2002, and he and Amal bought a historic manor in England.
They also own a New York apartment and a property in Kentucky, but have reportedly sold homes in Los Angeles and Mexico over the past decade.
‘Where we’re happiest’
Their property in southern France – a former wine estate called the Domaine du Canadel, near the village of Brignoles – was purchased in 2021.
The glamorous couple are parents to 8-year-old twins.
Clooney told RTL that although the family jet-sets around, their French home “is where we’re happiest”.
Also a director and producer, Clooney has two Oscars to put on whichever mantlepiece suits: one for best supporting actor in 2006’s “Syriana” and as a producer on 2012’s “Argo”.
He has also raked in millions for celebrity endorsements, including for Nespresso, and got a windfall payout for selling his stake in a tequila brand.
Clooney is not the only Hollywood luminary to want to go French: US director Jim Jarmusch on Friday told France Inter radio that he also plans to apply for French nationality.
“I would like a place that will allow me to escape from the United States,” he said, adding that he was also attracted by French culture.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
