From Hollywood to the Home Counties! Why DO US megastars Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and George Clooney prefer the UK to California – and where can YOU spot them?
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Hollywood megastars are having a love affair with the UK right now, upping sticks from sunny California for a much rainier destination.
With news just in that Brad Pitt has fallen in love with the UK after being spotted at Wimbledon and the Silverstone race track, it turns out he’s not the only Hollywood heart throb who has fallen for the Home Counties.
When Brad and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie spent the summer in Britain in 2012, they vowed to make it their second home and he’s loved England ever since.
Brad’s good friends Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Ryan Reynolds have all had the same idea and have been buying property here.
So where might you bump into these handsome gents?
Brad Pitt
Match made in heaven: Brad Pitt has fallen in love with the UK again after being spotted at Wimbledon on July 16
The Mail On Sunday revealed that the Fight Club actor has spent weeks here letting his hair down after filming his new movie about Formula 1 racing.
He has been based at the exclusive Soho Farmhouse near the Oxfordshire village of Great Tew, staying in one of their A-list cabins previously used by his friend Tom Cruise and British actor Simon Pegg.
Sources close to Brad, who turns 60 in December, also say that he fell in love with a traditional British pub in the market town of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, where they were filming scenes for his movie, rumoured to be called Apex, in which he plays a fictional F1 driver called Sonny Hayes.
He sipped pints at the idyllic Globe Inn, on the banks of the Grand Union canal, along with his co-stars and other staff working on the film.
The traditional menu includes scampi and chips for £11.99 and sausage and mash for £11.89.
It is 25 miles from Silverstone, where Pitt was seen filming on the same weekend as the British Grand Prix earlier this month. It is also close to the movie studios in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where much of the film is being made for Apple TV.
One source said: ‘Brad loves traditionally English things, including a really nice pub. It was closed for a week for filming but Brad just loved it there so would stay after filming and enjoy a drink.’
The star was also in the Royal Box at Wimbledon earlier this month to watch Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz defeat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the men’s final.
Who needs the sunshine? The Fight Club actor has spent weeks here letting his hair down after filming his new movie about Formula 1 racing (pictured at Silverstone)
Spot him here: He sipped pints at the idyllic Globe Inn, on the banks of the Grand Union canal, along with his co-stars and other staff working on the film about Formula 1
He has been enjoying rides in the English countryside in a chauffeur-driven Range Rover.
He has also regularly visited his close friend George Clooney at his £10 million Grade II-listed riverside home in Sonning, Berkshire, which he shares with wife Amal.
Like previous visitors to the actor’s house, including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Obamas, Pitt stayed overnight after visiting the local pubs. The source added: ‘It was lovely to have a friend so nearby.’
Brad has also regularly taken a private helicopter across the Channel to France to visit his vineyard, Chateau Miraval in Provence, which he bought with Angelina in happier times for around £25 million in 2008.
Sadly, it seems that his British summer could be brought to an end sooner than he thought after he stopped filming in solidarity with US writers and actors who are striking over higher pay and protesting about the use of artificial intelligence.
He had been due to fly to other Grand Prix events in Europe to film scenes. But stunt doubles are now being used instead.
Tom Cruise
He has become as ubiquitous to the British summer as strawberries and cream and the occasional thunderous downpour. Wherever you look, it seems, there is Tom Cruise – and his million-dollar smile
From the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations to appearances at Wimbledon, concerts by Adele and The Rolling Stones in London’s Hyde Park and cheering on his friend Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix, the once-reclusive Hollywood A-lister has been popping up everywhere since last year.
Tom, 61, now considers himself ‘an honorary Brit and has ‘fallen in love with everything about the UK,’ a source who worked with Cruise told the Mail On Sunday last year.
‘His daughter lives here, he enjoys a good cuppa and he loves the fact he can be himself. The biggest thing is he’s developed a proper circle of friends. He’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.’
He famously celebrated his 60th birthday at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds with some of those within his inner sanctum, including David Beckham, Gordon Ramsay and James Corden.
He’s also friends with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Tom gallantly took Kate’s hand to guide her up stairs on the red carpet at the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in Leicester Square last year in May, with some critics saying his gesture was ‘overly-familiar’.
Last October, Cruise is understood to have invited William and Kate to a screening of the new Top Gun movie at a cinema in Leicester Square. It was one of the first early previews and tapes were sent over from America especially.
A source said: ‘The UK has been good for him. He’s smiling all the time, he’s taking selfies, people love that he’s accessible’ -pictured at the Queen’s Jubilee Celebration in May 2022
Tom lives in a six-bedroom Knightsbridge penthouse apartment overlooking Hyde Park, where, with a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes, he enjoys early morning jogs with his trainer.
‘He’s never recognised,’ says a source close to him.
‘He wants to fit in, to look like any other local going for a run. He loves that he can enjoy the park without anyone realising who he is.
‘That’s something that wouldn’t happen for him in Los Angeles. Tom can blend in, be one of the boys.’
He loves to take friends to dine at Novikov – actually two restaurants under one roof, Italian and Asian – sipping his favourite Earl Grey tea.
He is also partial to a ‘proper’ cup of PG Tips, according to a Mission: Impossible crew member who also heard Cruise raving about a love of Guinness.
In London, he prefers to walk or go incognito in a black cab.
But he also uses his matt-black Eurocopter AS50 helicopter ‘the way other people use a car’. The chopper is based at Battersea helipad and Cruise often flies it solo to Richmond Golf Club where he parks it next to the ninth hole and has lunch in the Grade I listed clubhouse.
The star flies to Soho Farmhouse, the Chipping Norton retreat beloved of celebrities including Meghan Markle, Kate Moss and David Beckham.
Cruise, like many Americans, is fascinated by his family roots. Though his parents are from Kentucky, the family name Mapother (Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in 1962) is from Devon.
George Clooney
Bolthole: George, 62, and his lawyer wife Amal, 45, purchased a £12million mansion in Sonning, Berkshire in 2016.
George, 62, and his lawyer wife Amal, 45, purchased a £12million Grade II listed mansion in Sonning, Berkshire in 2016.
They began an intensive 18-month long refurbishment before moving in, so that the property was exactly to their standards.
The couple, who welcomed their twins Alexander and Ella in June 2017, live in the home, which reportedly boasts a 12-seat home cinema, a tennis court and a swimming pool and neighbours are said to include Kate Winslet and Eddie Redmayne.
Talking on BBC’1s Graham Norton Show, George once said: ‘There’s a great pub we go to. It’s fantastic and we drink all kinds of pints and things.’
Stunning: It reportedly boasts a 12-seat home cinema, a tennis court and a swimming pool and neighbours are said to include Kate Winslet and Eddie Redmayne
George said: ‘Next door there’s The Mill Theatre and I get to go next door and watch a play about once every two months. Literally, we open the door and walk across an alley and you’re in the theatre. We really have fun’
Then on The One Show, he said; ‘We have a place about an hour outside [London] in Sonning.
‘And so, next door there’s The Mill Theatre and I get to go next door and watch a play about once every two months. Literally, we open the door and walk across an alley and you’re in the theatre. We really have fun.
He continued: ‘There’s a wonderful little restaurant called The French Horn down the street we walk to. We have a really nice, little world right there, that’s very private and very quaint and, really, the people are lovely so I love it.’
According to My London, There is another establishment called The Crown and George has been seen popping in for a drink.
The pub has previously been seen advertising the coffee that he drinks, Espresso, with the tagline ‘Hey George, We Love Espresso’.
Johnny Depp
Look who it is! Johnny Depp recently residents of the quiet Welsh surburban street called Cwmdonkin Drive by making a surprise visit to the birthplace of poet Dylan Thomas
Iconic: The property, where poet Thomas was born in 1914, was restored in 2005 to how it would have looked when he lived there, after previously being used as a student bedsit
Over the years, the Pirates Of The Caribbean star has amassed an impressive array of homes around the world, including at one point, an island in the Caribbean and a French estate.
But Johnny, 60, recently revealed he prefers a quiet life in Somerset, where he resides on an 850-acre estate, complete with a 19th-century mansion.
Known as one of Hollywood’s biggest hell-raisers, the actor insisted he isn’t ‘the great extrovert that people think’ in a surprise interview with Somerset Life.
In 2014, he splashed around $15.8 million on a Downton Abbey-style estate in the West Country, which boasts 12 bedrooms, eight bathrooms and 850 acres.
The stunning abode, which looks like it has been taken straight out of a Jane Austen novel, also features sprawling walled gardens.
He told the magazine: ‘I just love places with character. British people are cool and will greet you as if you are a neighbor – without going over the top. I like going to places, seeing things and meeting people – but I’m not the great extrovert that people think.’
He added: ‘In truth, I’m quite a shy person. That’s one of the great things about Britain, and especially Somerset. I can just be me — and that’s nice.
‘I can go into shops without being surrounded by people wanting selfies. I don’t mind that up to a point, but sometimes it gets a little too crowded.’
At the time of his purchase, the Pirates Of The Caribbean star was newly engaged to his now ex-wife Heard, who he married in 2015 before their 2017 divorce.
Idyllic: Known as one of Hollywood’s biggest hell-raisers, Depp insisted he isn’t ‘the great extrovert that people think’, preferring to spend time at his home in Somerset (pictured)
Lavish: Depp celebrated his dramatic defamation case victory over ex-wife Amber Heard by enjoying a curry in Birmingham with friends – and running up a whopping £50,000 bill
Earlier this month, Johnny visited Dylan Thomas’s birthplace in Swansea.
In March, the actor left staff at the Hemswell Antiques Centre in shock after arriving via helicopter.
The Sweeney Todd actor posed for snaps with the star-struck staff after purchasing several rare guitars and numerous pieces of furniture.
Owner Robert Miller told Fox Business he had been sworn to secrecy before Johnny’s private visit and was’ t even allowed to tell his own staff at the shop, which describes itself as Europes largest antiques dealers.’
Back in June, Johnny left a ‘large tip’ after booking out a Birmingham curry house.
He dined out at Varanasi in the city’s Broad Street but was also seen in Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield just before that.
Ryan Reynolds
Putting down roots: Ryan Reynolds is said to be buying a £1.5million home in the quaint village of Marford in Clwyd on the Wales-England border
The Hollywood star is said to be buying a £1.5million home in the quaint village of Marford in Clwyd on the Wales-England border.
Marford has just two pubs, one Co-op, and only 2,500 residents – not that he’s moving any time soon.
The home – reportedly the ‘poshest in the street’ – is just just five miles north-east of Wrexham where the 46-year-old and fellow movie giant Rob McElhenney run the town’s football club.
It is a far cry from the £4.3million luxury New York home Reynolds and his wife share with their four children – and it appears Lively is in no rush to move from the Big Apple anytime soon, as she was pictured strolling around the city yesterday.
Marford has been part of both England and Wales over the years – being just a few miles from the border.
The village has a population of roughly 2,500 people. There are two pubs, one at the bottom of the Marford hill – The Trevor Arms – and the other at the top, The Red Lion.
There is one shop, the Co-op which opened in June 2016, adjacent to The Red Lion.
The village also has a disused quarry, which opened in 1927 to originally supply materials for the creation of the Mersey Tunnel before being shut down in 1971.
Fancy seeing you here: The sleepy village of Marford in Clwyd on the Wales-England border will soon be rolling out the red carpet to welcome Hollywood royalty
Nice enough: The little community is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of New York city. It has one Co-op (pictured) and two pubs
Cute: The tiny village, home to about 2,500 people, doesn’t have its own church or place of worship. But dotted around it are buildings like this, with Gothic-style architecture
Local haunt: When Reynolds moves into the area he’ll be able to check out the local pub The Red Lion
It has since become become an important nature reserve, having been colonised by a variety of plant species and insect life like moths and butterflies.
Marford’s previous claim to fame was being the hometown of former Blue Peter presenter, Tim Vincent, so a wave of excitement is washing over the village.
Maguz Malik, 57, who owns The Red Lion pub, previously told MailOnline: ‘It’s wonderful news. Ryan Reynolds has done so much for Wrexham and the local area.
‘It’s caused a real buzz in the village, many of the locals are excited that such a huge star is going to be living here.
‘I’ve seen a lot of his movies and I’ve obviously watched the Netflix documentary about him and Rob McElhenney taking over at Wrexham football club.
‘Ryan seems like a real down to earth guy and I think he’ll fit in around here. It’s a friendly and welcoming place to live. I’m sure he’ll love it as much as us.
‘And he’s more than welcome in the pub, we’ll have a pint waiting for him.’
In August last year Reynolds revealed his wife was not particularly happy when he told her the he had bought the Welsh team with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor McElhenney.
In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he said: ‘I remember seeing Blake, saying, “I have bad news and I have really bad news. I slipped into someone’s DMs again. The really bad news is that I might have bought half of a fifth-tier national football league in Wales”.’
However, Ms Lively has been snapped cheering on Reynolds’ club.
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