Hollywood actor George Clooney, wife Amal and children become French
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Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney bought a former wine estate near the village of Brignoles, in southern France, in 2021.
PHOTO: AFP
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- George Clooney, his wife Amal, and their children are now French citizens, confirmed by an official French government decree.
- Clooney cited French privacy laws protecting his family from paparazzi as a key reason, appreciating the cultural respect for privacy.
- Owning property in France since 2021, Clooney expressed his family's happiness in their French home despite their global lifestyle.
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PARIS – Hollywood star George Clooney has become French, along with his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney and their two children, an official decree seen by AFP on Dec 29 showed.
The publication, in France’s government gazette, confirms an ambition 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 have a historic manor in England.
Their property in southern France – a former wine estate called the Domaine du Canadel, near the village of Brignoles – was purchased in 2021.
They also own a New York apartment and a property in Kentucky, but reportedly sold homes in Los Angeles and Mexico over the past decade.
The glamorous couple are parents to eight-year-old twins.
Clooney told RTL that although the family jet-sets around, their French home “is where we’re happiest”.
He is also a director and producer, and has two Oscars to put on whichever mantlepiece suits: one for best supporting actor in Syriana (2005) and as a producer on Argo (2012).
On top of his cinema pay cheques, he has 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 Dec 26 told France Inter radio that he 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 attracted to French culture. AFP
