George and Amal Clooney Are Officially French Citizens
The couple and their two children spend a good portion of their time on an estate in the south of France — but the actor is still struggling to learn the language
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The couple and their two children spend a good portion of their time on an estate in the south of France — but the actor is still struggling to learn the language
George and Amal Clooney, and their eight-year-old twins, have been granted French citizenship, The Associated Press reports.
France’s Ministry of Justice confirmed that the family received their naturalization orders in official documents published over the weekend. George will retain his American citizenship, while Amal — who was naturalized under her maiden name Amal Alamuddin — is British-Lebanese. Their two children, to cap it all off, were born in London.
The Clooneys spend a significant portion of their lives in the south of France, where they purchased an estate in 2021. In an interview with Esquire earlier this year, the property was described as a farm with 100 acres of grapes, 1,200 olive trees, and a vegetable garden. In the same interview, Clooney explained his preference for the country, especially when it came to raising his kids and avoiding the worst trappings of fame.
“I was worried about raising our kids in L. A., in the culture of Hollywood,” he said. “I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life. France — they kind of don’t give a shit 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.”
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The one key thing about France Clooney is still adapting to, though, is the language: Speaking with the French broadcaster RTL earlier this month, Clooney admitted he’s “still bad at” speaking the language even after hundreds of Duolingo classes. “It’s hard to learn when you get old,” he quipped. “I just did a play on Broadway, and memorizing my lines was a nightmare.”
Clooney is currently promoting his most recent movie, Jay Kelly, in which he plays a middle-aged movie star in the midst of a midlife crisis. The film was directed by Noah Baumbach and co-stars Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, and more.