France has granted citizenship to Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife, the human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, according to government decrees issued over the weekend.
The orders of naturalisation for the couple and their 8-year-old twins came in documents published by France’s ministry of justice. Clooney, who was born in Kentucky, also has US citizenship, which French law allows him to retain.
Clooney, 64, has praised French culture and said that French privacy laws enabled him and his family to pursue a quieter existence. In an interview with the French broadcaster RTL aired early this month, Clooney said that his family had found a farmhouse in France that they loved.
“Here, they don’t take photos of kids. There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s No. 1 for us,” he said. “We also have a house in the United States, but our happiest place is on this farm where the kids can have fun.”
Clooney told Esquire magazine in an interview published in October that he and his family “live on a farm in France” and described a property including 100 acres of grapes, 1,200 olive trees and a vegetable garden. The French news media have reported that the Clooneys bought the house, on a vineyard outside the town of Brignoles, in the southern region of Provence, in 2021 for around $10 million.
The mayor of Brignoles, Didier Brémond, posted a photograph on social media in July that year that showed him meeting the couple at their new home. Last year, Clooney recorded a New Year’s message expressing thanks to Brémond and local residents for their welcome.
The actor’s timing for gaining citizenship may be fortunate: Starting next year, the French government is set to raise the language requirement for foreigners seeking residency and naturalisation. Clooney told RTL that he was attempting to learn French using the language app Duolingo, but confessed that it was not easy at his age.
“My French is horrible,” Clooney said last year, pronouncing the adjective with a strong French accent as he arrived at the opening of a movie theatre in Brignoles.
Clooney also owns a villa on Lake Como, in the foothills of the Italian Alps.
His career in film has spanned decades and includes comedies, dramas and
thrillers.
New York Times News Service