George and Amal Clooney, along with their twins Ella and Alexander, were awarded French citizenship on Friday.
The French government listed their names in the naturalization decree published on Saturday. Amal Clooney, a prominent human rights lawyer, was listed under her maiden name, Alamuddin, while the other three were listed as Clooneys.
George Clooney, in an interview with Esquire Magazine in October, said he was concerned about raising children in Hollywood. He also described the family’s farm in France as their primary residence.
The Associated Press noted the couple purchased an estate there in 2021.
“We live on a farm in France. A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it,” the Hollywood star told the magazine. “But now, for them, it’s like — they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.”“I was worried about raising our kids in L. A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life,” he continued. “France — they kind of don’t give a s— about fame. I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.”
Clooney has emerged as a prominent voice in politics in recent years. He has fundraised for Democratic candidates and made waves in Washington last year when he penned an op-ed in The New York Times calling on former President Biden to drop his 2024 presidential reelection bid.
He later said he thinks it was a mistake for former Vice President Harris to step in as Biden’s replacement, saying she has “a very tough task” of having “to run against her own record.”
It was not clear whether Clooney kept his American citizenship.
Amal Clooney was born in Lebanon and raised in the United Kingdom, while their twins were born in London, the AP reported.
