Actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are celebrating officially becoming Greek citizens, according to the prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who posted a photo of him and his wife alongside the two Hollywood stars.
“[Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks] are now proud Greek citizens!” said Mitsotakis on his Instagram, with the photo showing Hanks and Wilson holding up their new Greek passports.
“Starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece!” Hanks tweeted in January. “Kronia pola! ( more or less, “happy year!”). Hanx.”
Dual citizenship is fairly popular among Hollywood stars. European citizenship tends to make stars more employable for movies and shows that are co-financed in the EU, as they count as “European” for the purpose of production taxes.
Hanks and Wilson likely choose Greece as their country for dual citizenship, having being offered citizenship in recognition of the family’s help in raising funds for the victims of a deadly wildfire near Athens in 2018, according to an Associated Press report. Rita Wilson also has Greek and Bulgarian ancestry. The couple also take frequent trips to Greece, as they have a home on the Greek island of Antiparos.
A government spokesperson for Greece said on Monday that Prime Minister Mitsotakis and his wife had used a commercial flight on Saturday to travel to the Greek island of Paros, before traveling to Antiparos. They then used a military helicopter on Sunday for a trip to the ancient theater of Epidaurus, where they watched a performance of an ancient tragedy.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are board members of former first lady Michelle Obama’s nonprofit voter registration group, When We All Vote, which has partnered with the hyper-partisan MoveOn.org to push mail-in voting for the 2020 election.
Hanks has also repeatedly bashed President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, the Forest Gump and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood star took a swipe at the president while promoting his new movie Greyhound, declaring Trump’s handling the coronavirus pandemic has left “nothing but question marks.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.