Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson become Greek citizens

The Green Mile actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have been granted Greek citizenship.

The couple were snapped on Saturday night with the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, holding up their new Greek passports.

According to the post from Mitsotakis, '@ritawilson @tomhanks are now proud Greek citizens!'

Read more: Tom Hanks has no respect for those who won’t wear masks

Hanks and Wilson have long been regular visitors to Greece – Wilson's mother is Greek, and was raised on the Greek Albanian border.

The couple own a house on the island of Antiparos and another on Patmos, both off the south east coast of mainland Greece, the latter purchased in 2018.

Greek citizenship has also been granted to their children Chester and Truman, and to Hanks’ two other children Colin and Elizabeth.

They hit headlines in March this year after contracting the coronavirus.

Read more: Hanks shames those not wearing face coverings

Hanks had gone to Australia to begin production on the new Baz Luhrmann film about Elvis Presley, with the Forrest Gump star set to play Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker.

However, both Hanks and Wilson tested positive and were hospitalised, which was followed by a period of quarantine before they returned to the US.

The couple have since donated blood for a research program into treatment of the disease.