George Clooney reveals why he chose to move to France with wife Amal and children
PARIS, FRANCE: George Clooney has obtained French citizenship, along with his wife Amal Clooney and their two children, Ella and Alexander, an official decree in France’s government gazette revealed.
Clooney has a long attachment to Europe that predates his 2014 marriage to his wife, Amal, a British-Lebanese human rights lawyer who speaks fluent French. The couple has been living in France with their children to get away from the culture of Hollywood, the actor said in October.
George Clooney's old connection with Europe
George Clooney told RTL radio early in December, "I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses. Here, they don’t take photos of kids. There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us."
The actor owns an estate in Italy’s Lake Como region, bought in 2002, and he and his wife also bought a historic manor in England. Their property in southern France – a former wine estate called the Domaine du Canadel – was bought in 2021.
Moreover, they own a New York apartment and a property in Kentucky, but reportedly sold homes in Los Angeles and Mexico over the past decade.
During an interview with Esquire, Clooney discussed his life in France and explained why they chose to move his family to the countryside.
"You know, we live on a farm in France. A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it. But now, for them, it’s like – they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life," he told the outlet.
Clooney added, "I was worried about raising our kids in LA, in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life."
The actor also said, "France – they kind of don’t give a s*** about fame. I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids."
George Clooney says he has no regrets over NYT op-ed on Joe Biden
In November 2025, George Clooney reaffirmed his stance on former President Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy last year, and said he does not regret writing an op-ed for The New York Times in 2024, urging him to withdraw from the race. He emphasized that he intended to put the country and the party over personal loyalty.
On 'CBS Sunday Morning', host Seth Doane asked the actor whether he would have written the essay again, knowing President Donald Trump was reelected. Clooney said he would, but added that he felt it was a mistake to run with former Vice President Kamala Harris without going through a primary.
"We had a chance. I wanted there to be, as I wrote in the op-ed, a primary. Let’s battle-test this quickly and get it up and going. I think the mistake with it being Kamala is she had to run against her own record. It’s very hard to do if the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person.’ It’s hard to do, and so she was given a very tough task. I think it was a mistake, quite honestly," Clooney said.
He added, "But, we are where we are. We were gonna lose more House seats, they say. So, I don’t know. To not do it would be to say, 'I’m not gonna tell the truth'."
Following Biden’s poor performance in the June 2024 debate against Trump, Clooney urged the former President to withdraw from the reelection race in a New York Times op-ed titled, "I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee."
