The publication, in France’s government gazette, confirms an ambition Clooney alluded to early in December when he hailed French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi.
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“I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses,” the 64-year-old actor told RTL radio at the time — in English.
“Here, they don’t take photos of kids. There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us,” he said.
The now-dual US-French citizen has a long attachment to Europe, which even pre-dates his 2014 marriage to Amal, a British-Lebanese human rights lawyer who speaks fluent French.
Clooney owns an estate in Italy’s picturesque Lake Como region, purchased in 2002, and he and Amal bought a historic manor in England.
Their property in southern France — a former wine estate called the Domaine du Canadel, near the village of Brignoles — was purchased in 2021.
They also own a New York apartment and a property in Kentucky, but reportedly sold homes in Los Angeles and Mexico over the past decade.
The glamorous couple are parents to eight-year-old twins.
Clooney told RTL that although the family jet-sets around, their French home “is where we’re happiest”.
Clooney is also a director and producer, and has two Oscars to put on whichever mantlepiece suits: one for best supporting actor in 2006’s “Syriana” and as a producer on 2012’s “Argo”.
On top of his cinema pay cheques, he has raked in millions for celebrity endorsements, including for Nespresso, and got a windfall pay-out for selling his stake in a tequila brand.
Clooney is not the only Hollywood luminary to want to go French: US director Jim Jarmusch on Friday told France Inter radio that he plans to apply for French nationality.
“I would like a place that will allow me to escape from the United States,” he said, also saying he was attracted to French culture.
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