Jesse Eisenberg Applies for Polish Citizenship: ‘I Would Love to Create Better Relationships Between Jews and Polish People’

Jesse Eisenberg has applied for Polish citizenship. In a recent interview with the Polish publication “Głos Wielkopolski,” he said he applied for it nine months ago and is now “waiting for the final signature.”

“My family is from the southeast, from Krasnystaw, my wife’s [Anna Strout] family is from Łódź. We wanted to have a greater connection to Poland. I would like to work here more,” he said.

“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.”

Variety has reached out to Eisenberg’s representatives for comment.

The “Social Network” star was in Poland as a guest of Impact’24 congress. Previously, he shot “A Real Pain” in the country. Eisenberg directed, wrote and starred in it, alongside “Succession’s” Kieran Culkin. The film, which premiered at Sundance, sees two cousins heading to Poland to look for their roots.

Eisenberg said the movie filmed in all the places where his family is from, including in Lublin, Warsaw, Krasnystaw, as well as Kraśnik, Radom.

“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’?”

Next, Eisenberg will direct a film in New Jersey about “a very shy woman who joins a community theatre” and make “Now You See Me 3.”

“It films in Budapest – I wish it could film here, of course, but Hungary has these tax incentives that lure American filmmakers over that I wish Poland had,” he said. But he will be back.

He said he’s drawn to Poland “in a personal way,” because that’s where his family “lived for so many generations, centuries.” “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.”

Talking to Variety, “A Real Pain” producer Ewa Puszczyńska admitted Eisenberg’s team was willing to return for another film.

“Incentives are great, but this pool of resources is limited. [They were] thinking about making another project in Poland, but the money was gone. The system should work all year round,” she said.

“With these films, we have proven we can efficiently organize production in Poland at every stage. In the case of Jesse Eisenberg’s film, everyone was from Poland except for the actors and the director,” Puszczyńska continued.