Actor Colin Firth is promising to remain “extremely British” as he says “uncertainty” around the world prompted him to get an Italian passport.

The Kingsman star followed in the footsteps of his own children as he become a dual UK and Italian citizen, while his wife of 20 years, Livia Giuggioli, is applying for a British passport.

In a light-hearted statement, the 57-year-old said that the idea seemed “sensible” in the current political climate following Britain’s decision to leave the EU.

The Academy Award, Golden Globe and Bafta winner is best known for playing a number of famously stiff-upper-lipped English figures on the big screen, including Bridget Jones‘ Mark Darcy, Love Actually‘s Jamie, and King George VI in The King’s Speech.

Firth said: “My wife and I are both extremely proud of our own countries. We feel that we’ve made a gift of that to each other.

“Our children have been dual citizens since the beginning. We never really thought much about our different passports. But now, with some of the uncertainty around, we thought it sensible that we should all get the same.”

Colin Firth has played the part of a quintessential Englishman in many of his film and television roles.

He continued: “I will always be extremely British – you only have to look at or listen to me. Britain is our home and we love it here.

“Despite the enticements of my profession to relocate to more remunerative climes I’ve always chosen to base my career out of the UK and pay my taxes here. That hasn’t changed.”

The pair were married in the country and their two sons, Luca and Matteo, were both born in Rome.

A number of EU countries, including Germany, France and Ireland, have reported a surge in British nationals seeking a new nationality following the Brexit vote.

The Italian announcement about Firth’s new passport came just hours after British Prime Minister Theresa May flew to Florence to make a keynote speech to try to revive stalled Brexit negotiations and reassure worried business leaders.

Fiennes gets Serbian citizenship, passport

Meanwhile, fellow British actor Ralph Fiennes has received a Serbian passport from the Balkan country’s president after he was granted citizenship earlier this month.

President Aleksandar Vucic handed the passport to Fiennes at a meeting on Sunday in the Serbian presidency building in Belgrade.

Fiennes first came to Serbia in 2010 to shoot his directorial debut, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. Fiennes is currently filming a movie in Belgrade on Soviet ballet dancing legend Rudolf Nureyev.

-PAA