French movie icon Gerard Depardieu is now a Russian . He is best known to U.S. movie fans for his starring role in the 1990 comedy `` Green Card , '' in which the character he plays marries an American woman -- played by Andie MacDowell -- to be allowed permanent residence in the States . Depardieu may never become a documented immigrant in the U.S. , but the star announced Friday he accepted Russian citizenship after Vladimir Putin granted it to him personally by presidential decree , Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported . Read more : Hollande under pressure to show hand . The movie star and businessman recently fled his native France in a high-profile protest of government plans for a tax hike on the richest . He moved just across the border to the town of Nechin , Belgium , and ditched his French citizenship . Putin 's offer stems from a quip the actor made to a French newspaper two weeks ago about citizenship offers from other countries . `` Putin has already sent me a passport , '' he joked to Le Monde . He and Putin are friends . Read more : France 's tax laws will lead to 'brain drain ' The Russian president pounced on the wisecrack the very next day , saying that if Depardieu wants in , then he 's in , Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported . Putin had Thursday 's decree posted to his website : . `` In accordance with clause ' a ' of article 89 of the Russian Constitution , the application for Russian citizenship by Gerard Xavier Depardieu born in France in 1948 has been granted . '' France 's socialist administration wants to raise taxes on citizens earning more than 1 million euros ( $ 1.3 million ) annually to 75 % . The Russian federation has a flat income tax rate of 13 % , RIA Novosti reported . Depardieu has worked in Russia before , appearing in a historical film on czarist Russia and in ad campaigns . His father was a Communist , and as a child , before the fall of the Iron Curtain , he listened to Radio Moscow . He has promised to start learning Russian and in a letter to journalists gushed with praise for his new society , RIA Novosti reported . `` I adore your country , Russia , your people , your history , your writers ... I adore your culture , your way of thinking . '' And he wrote that he spoke with `` his '' President Francois Hollande about the decision . `` He knows that I love your President Vladimir Putin , '' Depardieu wrote , according to RIA Novosti , `` and that feeling is mutual . '' Read more : France raises taxes on rich . Depardieu is a cultural icon in France , and his departure has triggered a hailstorm of public criticism for and against him . It reignited the discussion on the tax code . He abandoned his citizenship in an emotional , sweeping open letter addressed to French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that was published in mid-December in the Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche . `` Sadly , I no longer belong here , '' he wrote , `` but I will continue to love the French public , with whom I have shared so many emotions . I 'm leaving because you believe that success , creativity , talent -- what makes people individual -- must be punished . '' He asserted that he has always paid his taxes , claiming they totaled 145 million euros over the past 45 years . In addition to his million-dollar acting fees , Depardieu has revenues from companies he said he owns that give work to a total of 80 employees . `` I leave after having paid , in 2012 , 85 % tax on my income , '' he wrote , triggering at least one fact check in the French press . With his citizenship , Depardieu bequeathed in the letter his social security benefits to the state . He has left France to become `` a true European , a citizen of the world . '' Depardieu has been one of the quintessential faces of the French silver screen for decades . His large , clefted nose , broad smile , beaming eyes , longish blond hair , hefty physique and bodacious mannerisms are uniquely his own and have left their imprint on the French cinema and stage . He has played in at least 195 films since 1967 , according to the Internet Movie Database , and starred in every genre from happy-go-lucky comedies to tragedies . He has helped bring French historic epics such as `` Napoleon '' and `` Germinal '' to life . Depardieu has received numerous acting awards and has even been knighted . But he has also been known for audacious escapades under the influence of alcohol , such as urinating on the floor of an airplane about to take off and reportedly trashing an automobile with his bare hands . In his open letter to France and its politicians , he admits to foibles in his lifestyle and love life but is unapologetic . He has also suffered family tragedies . He lost his heroin-addicted son to pneumonia . He left his wife , and he and his daughter are reportedly estranged . According to media reports , Depardieu has received citizenship offers from other countries . His next movie , which IMDb describes as a `` thriller '' is to release this year and bears the title `` Foreign Affairs . ''
Gerard Depardieu has been granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin . The French silver screen icon deserted France over a proposed tax hike on the richest . Score: 6