PREVIEW

Actor and director Jesse Eisenberg has been granted Polish citizenship by President Andrzej Duda, following his portrayal of Poland’s Jewish history during World War Two in his Oscar-winning film A Real Pain.

President Duda presented Eisenberg with the citizenship certificate during a ceremony at the Polish Mission to the United Nations in New York on Tuesday (04March2025).

“I am glad that people from all over the world, from across the ocean, remember their origins – that their ancestors come from the Republic of Poland and want to be associated with our country,” the President said.

“I want to emphasise the joy not only of myself as the President of the Republic of Poland, but also of many of my compatriots, that we have a new citizen not only in Poland but also in the European Union. I congratulate you with all my heart.”

Eisenberg was born in Queens, New York to a Jewish family with deep ancestral ties to Poland. His maternal great-grandmother was born in Krasnystaw, while one of his paternal great-grandfathers also hailed from Poland.

In 2023, he applied for Polish citizenship and became an Honorary Citizen of Krasnystaw the following year.

His film A Real Pain, which he wrote, directed, and starred in, tells the story of two American cousins who travel to Poland to honour their grandmother—a Holocaust survivor who was based on Eisenberg’s own great aunt.

The Social Network star was inspired to create A Real Pain after the death of his great aunt Doris in 2019 at the age of 106. She grew up in Poland but fled to the United States in 1938. Other members of his family who remained in Poland were killed during the Holocaust.

The film earned Eisenberg an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His co-star, Kieran Culkin, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Eisenberg’s on-screen cousin.

Speaking during the citizenship ceremony, Eisenberg reflected on his family’s history and the emotional connection he felt while working in Poland.

"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 for far longer than we lived in New York,” he said, according to the BBC. “And of course, the history ended so tragically."

The Hollywood star continued: "The tragedy is not only what happened in history but also that my family no longer felt connected to Poland. That saddened me and confirmed that I wanted to reconnect as much as possible."

Eisenberg added he hoped receiving citizenship marked the beginning of a deeper connection between himself, his family, and Poland.