--- description: British actor Colin Firth has become a dual citizen of Great Britain and Italy after his home nation voted to leave the European Union title: Colin Firth Becomes Italian Citizen After Brexit image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2551932595e5ae4f/6988df28ab6d777e4f6afedc/gettyimages-461383554.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Brexit](/tag/brexit/) ## Brexit Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # British Actor Colin Firth Becomes an Italian Citizen Following Brexit Decision by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 23, 2017 8:43 PM CUT  Actor Colin Firth (L) and Livia Giuggioli attend the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. Actor Colin Firth (L) and Livia Giuggioli attend the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.Photograph by Kevin Winter—Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 23, 2017 8:43 PM CUT British actor [Colin Firth](http://time.com/2892622/colin-firth-is-paddington-bear-no-more/ "undefined") has become a dual citizen of Great Britain and Italy after his home nation voted to leave the European Union. His wife Livia Giuggioli, who is Italian, has also applied for British citizenship. [According the Associated Press](https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2017-09-23/colin-firth-takes-italian-citizenship-after-brexit-decision "undefined"), Firth said in a statement that they never took much issue with each of them having passports from two different countries. However, following Brexit, Firth said that “with some of the uncertainty around, we thought it sensible that we should all get the same.” The couple’s two children already have dual citizenship to Great Britain and Italy. Firth has also been quoted as calling Brexit a disaster, according to the AP. Countries within the European Union have eased regulations on [crossing borders between other EU countries](http://time.com/4165884/denmark-sweden-border/ "undefined"). Brexit would [remove Britain](http://time.com/4871123/britain-softer-brexit-theresa-may/ "undefined") from those border standards. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4954869/british-actor-colin-firth-becomes-an-italian-citizen-following-brexit-decision/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4954869/british-actor-colin-firth-becomes-an-italian-citizen-following-brexit-decision/"},"headline":"British Actor Colin Firth Becomes an Italian Citizen Following Brexit Decision","datePublished":"2017-09-23T20:43:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:34:13.965Z","description":"Both he and his wife are looking to become dual-citizens of Britain and Italy","url":"https://time.com/4954869/british-actor-colin-firth-becomes-an-italian-citizen-following-brexit-decision/","keywords":["Brexit","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2551932595e5ae4f/6988df28ab6d777e4f6afedc/gettyimages-461383554.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2551932595e5ae4f/6988df28ab6d777e4f6afedc/gettyimages-461383554.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards - Cocktail Party","caption":"72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards - Cocktail Party","creditText":"Photograph by Kevin Winter—Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/brexit/","name":"Brexit"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4954869/british-actor-colin-firth-becomes-an-italian-citizen-following-brexit-decision/","name":"British Actor Colin Firth Becomes an Italian Citizen Following Brexit Decision"}}]}] ```