Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are celebrating their Greek citizenship!
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis shared the news with a photo of himself and wife Mareva Grabowski posing with the couple as they proudly showed off their new passports.
“@ritawilson @tomhanks are now proud Greek citizens!” he captioned his post.
Rita first discovered her Greek heritage through a descendant on her mother’s side on the show, “Who Do You Think You Are?”
While Tom shared on Twitter in January that he became an honorary Greek citizen, writing, “Starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece! Kronia pola! ( more or less, “happy year!”).
Starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece! Kronia pola! ( more or less, “happy year!”). Hanx pic.twitter.com/b8fmrgjvYP
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) January 2, 2020
Tom and Rita frequently vacation in Greece and also own property on Antiparos island. They have also produced films about the Greek community.
Hanks told reporters at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, “I’ve been Hellenic now for the better part of 32 years. Greece is a haven… I’ve been around the world, I’ve been to the most beautiful places in the world, none of them tops Greece.”
During the 2018 fires that devastated parts of Athens, the “Forrest Gump” star raised awareness and support for disaster relief.
Greek Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos told CNN in a statement in December, “Tom Hanks is a person who showed real interest in the people who suffered from the fire in Mati and promoted this issue in the global media.”
