Jesse Eisenberg feels a "responsibility" to stay in the US during Donald Trump's presidency.
The A Real Pain actor-and-director received Polish citizenship last year but insisted his dual nationality isn't paving the way for him to leave the country in protest at the current leadership, because he and spouse Anna Strout feel they should try to help those who are "struggling" and they have a "very good" life where they are.
Speaking at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, Jesse - whoo received the President's Award - said when asked if he had a "responsibility" to stay in New York amid Trump's second term - “I am a very lucky American.
“I have a nice life. My wife is a teacher, and she teaches a lot of students who are not as lucky as we are. I think we feel, if anything, a responsibility to stay in New York and help those who are struggling through a tougher period in American history.
“No, I’m not going to leave because I don’t like the politics of America. That seems a little silly, because my life is very good.“
Jesse was granted Polish citizenship in March last year, having applied when he began exploring his roots while working on A Real Pain in the country.
Speaking during a ceremony in New York, he said at the time: “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 in May 2024 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?' "
