Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Officially Become Greek Citizens

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were spotted celebrating their now official status as Greek citizens while holding up their new Greek passports.

The two are currently in Greece, where they own a house on the charming island of Antiparos. They met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife on Paros, where the two couples posed together to celebrate Hanks’ and Wilson’s new Greek status.

The Greek government granted Hanks and Wilson citizenship last year citing their “exceptional services to Greece”. The pair brought massive media attention and resources to help with the devastating wildfires of July 2018. The most tragic fire killed 102 people in the seaside town of Mati, northeast of Athens.

Though Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the former Greek President, granted Hanks and Wilson their honorary naturalization order last year, the couple just picked up their passports on their most recent trip to Greece.

Wilson is Greek-American, and Hanks is an active part of the Greek Orthodox Church to which he has converted. Hanks often speaks about his love for Greece and the Greek people, as he considers himself a huge Hellenophile.