Jesse Eisenberg has received what he calls "an honor of a lifetime:" Polish citizenship. The American actor, writer, and director—a great-nephew of a woman who fled Poland for the US amid Nazi rule—received the honor from Polish President Andrzej Duda at a ceremony in New York on Tuesday, Variety reports. Eisenberg said he was inspired to apply for citizenship while in Poland filming A Real Pain, which received an Oscar nomination and BAFTA win for best original screenplay. Eisenberg wrote, directed, and co-starred in the film, which draws from his own family history. It follows two American cousins (Eisenberg and now-Oscar winner Kieran Culkin) on a trip to Poland to pay homage to a relative who survived the Holocaust.
While exploring the country during filming, Eisenberg realized "my family had lived in this place far longer than we've lived in New York" but "didn't feel any connection anymore to Poland," he said. "That saddened me and confirmed for me that I really wanted to try to reconnect as much as possible." He said he'd been interested in Polish citizenship, available to those whose direct ancestors were born or lived in Poland after 1920, "for two decades." "I'm so unbelievably honored," added the filmmaker, whose wife's family also hails from Poland. President Duda said he was "delighted that people from across the ocean acknowledge their heritage ... and seek to forge a connection with our country," per the BBC. (More Jesse Eisenberg stories.)
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