Gerard Depardieu move: 5 more expat celebrities

Gerard Depardieu has flown the coop, so to speak, opting to decamp from France to Russia after a tiff over taxes with Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. 

However, the French actor is hardly the only celebrity to leave their homeland for somewhere new. Here, five of our favorite expats.

 1. Sean Connery

Connery, AKA one of the finest James Bonds to walk the earth, ditched his native Scotland in the 1970s for the sunnier climes of Spain and later the Bahamas.

The actor wasn't chasing the sun, however.  

"I couldn't live in Scotland just now with what they would do to me, frankly, the media and all that, the tabloids," he told the Telegraph.

"If I was living in Edinburgh I would have a real problem going around. I don't have a problem when I go out now."

2. Victoria Beckham

Beckham, formerly Posh spice, currently the wife of soccer star David Beckham, left her Spice Girl career to start a family with her hubby in Spain, and then Los Angeles. 

"It’s great here — the climate, the people, the restaurants," Victoria said of her adopted home of Madrid. "Things happen more slowly here." 

"At first I had problems adapting to the pace of Spanish life.
"But now I’m grateful for it. I find it lovely. I can’t think of anything I don’t like about Spain."

We wonder if she has any qualms about her plush L.A. life? 

3. Terry Gilliam 

One of the founding fathers of British humor was…American? Oh, the horror! 

But its true — Gilliam, a member of the iconic "Monty Python" troupe, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He moved to the UK to work on a childrens series in the 60s, and got British citizenship in 1968, the year before Python debuted on BBC. 

4. Emma Watson

The star of one of Britain's most beloved series of all time, bushy-haired Hermione actress Watson was actually born in Paris. 

Her parents, both British-born lawyers, were working in the city of lights (and London rival city) when Emma was born. They divorced when she was 5, and took her back to Oxford — perfect training for her role as a British wizard at Hogwarts. 

Perhaps that few years is where she got her gamine je-ne-sais-pas-quoi? 

5. Mick Jagger 

The Rolling Stones' frontman is one of the most high-profile exiles in the world; he left Britain with his bandmates in 1972 for the south of France for so-called "tax purposes." 

The band's subsequent album, "Exile on Main Street," winks at the move. 

Very sly, Jagger.