Hollywood stars granted honorary citizenship for helping Greek wildfire victims
American film stars Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have officially become Greek citizens, the Greek Prime Minister announced.
The couple posed for a photo with their new passports alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife.
The Prime Minister posted the photo on Instagram on Saturday. Hanks and Wilson “are now proud Greek citizens,” he wrote.
Greek media reported that the meeting took place on the island of Antiparos.
Hanks, Wilson and their children were granted honorary Greek citizenship last year for calling attention to a devastating wildfire near Athens in July 2018.
The forest fire ravaged the seaside village of Mati, killing more than 100 people.
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Speaking to CNN in December, Greek Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos said Hanks “showed real interest in the people who suffered from the Mati fire and promoted this issue in the international media “.
Former Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos later signed an honorary naturalization order for Hanks and his family, citing their “outstanding service to Greece.”
The order allowed Hanks and his family to claim Greek citizenship.
“Start 2020 as an honorary citizen of all Greece!” Hanks wrote on Twitter in January.
Images from 2018 show how wildfires spread in Mati
Hanks, a convert to the Greek Orthodox Church, and Wilson, of Greek descent, made their shared love of the country known.
Hanks, 64, and Wilson, 63, have been visiting Greece for years, often vacationing in the country during the summer months.
They reportedly own property in Greece, including a house on the island of Antiparos.
Their ties to Greece reportedly motivated their decision to co-produce the hit romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
A two-time Oscar winner, Hanks expressed his admiration for Greece during his appearance at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
“I’ve been Hellenic for almost 32 years,” Hanks said while accepting the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Greece is a paradise… I have traveled around the world, I have visited the most beautiful places in the world, none of them surpasses Greece. The earth, the sky, the water, it is good for the soul, it is a place of healing.
