Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson can officially say they are Greek. According to the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the last hours, the American actor, 64, and his wife, 63, have obtained citizenship and already have their corresponding documentation.

“@Ritawilson @tomhanks are now proud Greek citizens!” Wrote the president, along with a photograph of him, his wife Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotaki and Tom Hanks with Rita Wilson, who appear holding their new passports.

The couple and their children became honorary Greek citizens in 2019 after the country’s top leaders highlighted the role of the protagonist of Forrest Gump in the awareness project about the devastating fires that occurred in 2018, which devastated the green areas near the capital, Athens, and the lives of more than a hundred people were claimed.

According to Hellenic Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos at the time, the actor is a person who has shown a great personal connection and commitment to the well-being of Greece in very difficult times for the country. “Tom Hanks is a person who showed real interest in the people who suffered the Mati fire and promoted this issue in the world media,” he told CNN in a statement last December.

In addition to the actions of the actor, a Greek Orthodox convert, another factor that may have come into play in obtaining his documentation is the fact that his wife, the also American actress, has Greek descent from her mother, Dorothea, and that the couple owns property on the island of Antiparos, where they recently were to celebrate his 64th birthday.

As far as is known, in addition to Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, that in the last Golden Globes ceremony, he claimed to have been “Hellenic for about 32 years”, and that “Greece is a paradise” above “the most beautiful in the world ”, also the couple’s four children – Colin, Chet, Truman and Elizabeth Hanks – already have a Greek passport.