Jesse Eisenberg granted Polish citizenship
Jesse Eisenberg has been granted Polish citizenship.
Jesse Eisenberg has been granted Polish citizenship.
The 41-year-old actor began exploring his roots while filming 'A Real Pain' in Poland and he is thrilled that having the "amazing honour" granted by President Andrzej Duda will help bring his family closer to "reconnecting" with their heritage.
Speaking during a ceremony in New York, he said: “While we were filming this movie in Poland and I was walking the streets and starting to get a little more comfortable in the country, something so obvious occurred to me, which is that my family had lived in this place far longer than we’ve lived in New York,.
“And of course, the history ended so tragically, but in addition to that tragedy of history is also the tragedy that my family didn’t feel any connection anymore to Poland, and that saddened me and confirmed for me that I really wanted to try to reconnect as much as possible.
"And I really hope that tonight in this ceremony and this amazing honour is the first step for me and my family to reconnect with this beautiful country.”
Poland allows citizenship for those whose direct ancestors were born there or lived there after 1920.
Jesse said during the ceremony: “I’m so unbelievably honoured. This is an honour of a lifetime and something I have been very interested in for two decades.”
The 'Social Network' actor revealed last May he had applied for Polish citizenship.
Speaking to the Polish publication Glos Wielkopolski, Jesse said: "My family is from the southeast, from Krasnystaw, my wife’s [Anna Strout] family is from Lodz. We wanted to have a greater connection to Poland. I would like to work here more.
"Growing up, I’ve heard stories of the Polish relationship with my Jewish family and all the stories were great: we were best friends with the Poles. My family lived in Krasnystaw up until the war, one person survived the war and moved to Szczecin. Unfortunately, she passed away from Covid, so it was quite recent...
"While I was working here, I met some people who worked in positions related to the government. I said to them: 'I would love to create better relationships between Jews and Polish people. To me, it’s so unfortunate they are not great. I would love to do that. My family is from here, my wife’s family is from here. Is there any way we could apply for Polish citizenship?'"
Jesse felt drawn to Poland in a "personal way".
He added: "It makes me feel connected to something. In America, everyone is very new, apart from the people who were there first, the Indigenous Americans. Poland made me feel a real connection to something historically bigger than myself."
