Nia Vardalos
Nia Vardalos | |
|---|---|
 Vardalos in 2011 | |
| Born | Antonia Eugenia Vardalos September 24, 1962 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, director,[1] producer, screenwriter, singer |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Antonia Eugenia "Nia" Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian-American actress, screenwriter, director, and producer of Greek descent. Her most notable work is the 2002 Academy Award–nominated film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was based on a one-woman stage play she dramatized and in which she starred.
Early and personal life
Vardalos was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on September 24, 1962. She is the daughter of Greek Canadian parents Doreen Christakis, a bookkeeper and homemaker, and Constantine "Gus" Vardalos, a land developer.[2][3][4] She attended St. George School and Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg and Ryerson University[5] in Toronto. She married American actor Ian Gomez on September 5, 1993. Gomez converted to Greek Orthodoxy prior to marrying her. In 2008, they adopted a daughter named Ilaria. She posted an advice column about the adoption process at The Huffington Post.[6] She became a U.S. citizen in 1999.
Career
An alumna of the Chicago-based Second City comedy repertory company, Vardalos had many small roles in television shows such as The Drew Carey Show and Two Guys and a Girl; in addition, she provided voices for the 1996 radio adaptation of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi which Brian Daley had written for National Public Radio.
She gained fame with her movie about a woman's struggle to find love in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was based on a one-woman show which Vardalos had previously written for the theater and starred in onstage. The film was a huge critical and commercial success. The film earned Vardalos an Academy Award Nomination for Best Writing, a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Screen Actors Guild Award Nomination.[citation needed]
The sleeper hit, which quickly became one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time, led to the unsuccessful CBS spin-off series, My Big Fat Greek Life. The show was cancelled after seven episodes and featured the entire cast from the film, aside from John Corbett.[7]
Her next film, released in 2004, was Connie and Carla, a musical about two women pretending to be drag queens.[7]
Vardalos made her directorial debut in 2009 with the independent feature I Hate Valentine's Day. The film, about a florist finding romance, received only a limited release and grossed $1,985,260 at the international box-office. This was followed by My Life in Ruins, about a misguided tour-guide travelling around Greece and featuring Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss. The film was the first American production given permission to film at the Acropolis; Vardalos sought the approval from the Greek Government. The film was a moderate success at both the international box-office and DVD sales.[7]
In 2011, Vardalos collaborated with Tom Hanks to write the romantic comedy film Larry Crowne for the screen. The film received moderate reviews and was a commercial success, grossing $59.8 million; Vardalos also voiced the character Map Genie in the film. As of 2013, Vardalos was slated to star in the upcoming films Talk of the Town (2012) and A Wilderness of Monkeys (2013).[7]
Vardalos joined many celebrities helping to produce The 1 Second Film art project; she herself was featured in The Dialogue, an interview series. In this 90 minute interview with producer Mike DeLuca, Vardalos talked about how her experiences in The Second City comedy troupe helped her as an actress and a screenwriter, and how the unofficial "tell-the-Greek" word-of-mouth program had a hand in catapulting her movie to such great heights. She performed The Beatles song "Golden Slumbers" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams – Songs from the Stars.
Vardalos's struggle to become a mother, which ultimately led her and husband Ian Gomez to adopt after thirteen distinct in vitro fertilization attempts had failed, made its way into a book she wrote, Instant Mom, which was published in 2014.
Vardalos starred in and co-wrote My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which was released in March of 2016.[8] It was less successful than the original had been.
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | High Incident | Uncredited | Episode: "Father Knows Best" |
| 1996 | Common Law | uncredited | Episode: "In the Matter of, Acceptance" |
| 1997 | Men Seeking Women | Iris | |
| 1997 | The Drew Carey Show | Grace Almada | Episode: "Strange Bedfellows" |
| 1997–98 | Team Knight Rider | Domino (voice) | 22 episodes |
| 1998–99 | Boy Meets World | Uncredited | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | It's Like, You Know... | Mindy | Episode: "Memories of Me" |
| 1999 | Two Guys and a Girl | Evelyn | Episode: "Career Day" |
| 2000 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Larry's Lawyer | Episode: "Interior Decorator" |
| 2002 | Saturday Night Live | Host | |
| 2003 | My Big Fat Greek Life | Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos | Writer and executive producer; 7 episodes |
| 2008 | My Boys | Jo | 3 episodes |
| 2009 | Drop Dead Diva | Lisa Shane | 1 episode |
| 2010 | The Good Guys | Eileen | Pilot episode |
| 2011 | Cougar Town[10] | Andy's sister in law | Episode: "Damaged by Love" |
| 2012 | Grey's Anatomy | Karen | 1 episode |
| 2013–14 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Attorney Minonna Efron | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Marry Me | Pam | Episode: "Mom Me" |
| 2015 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Mrs. Diaz | Voice role |
| 2015 | Jane the Virgin | Barbara Stanbrook | Episode: "Chapter Nineteen" |
| 2015 | The Great Holiday Baking Show | Presenter | Baking competition |
| 2016 | The Catch (TV series) | Leah Wells | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Graves (TV series) | Annie Spiro | 2 episodes |
References
- ^ Neda Ulaby (July 13, 2009). "Female Directors, Still A Scarce Movie Commodity". National Public Radio. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ^ "Sending up the Greek in spirit". The Age. Melbourne. October 6, 2002.
- ^ Nia Vardalos profile, filmreference.com; accessed July 2, 2015.
- ^ Seiler, Andy (August 28, 2002). "'Greek Wedding' marches on, much to Hollywood's surprise". USA Today. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
- ^ Nia Vardalos profile, Yahoo! Movies; accessed July 2, 2015.
- ^ Nia Vardalos. "The List". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Nia Vardalos". Movies. Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ "Movies". winnipegfreepress.com. Bob Cox. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ Nia Vardalos To Reunite With John Corbett In Another Romantic Comedy | AHN | August 9, 2008
- ^ Vardalos's husband Ian Gomez was a regular cast member of Cougar Town.
External links
- 1962 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American actresses
- 20th-century Canadian actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- 21st-century Canadian actresses
- Actresses from Winnipeg
- Actresses of Greek descent
- American film actresses
- American people of Canadian descent
- American writers of Greek descent
- American television actresses
- American voice actresses
- Canadian emigrants to the United States
- Canadian film actresses
- Canadian people of Greek descent
- Canadian television actresses
- Canadian voice actresses
- Eastern Orthodox Christians from Canada
- Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States
- Ryerson University alumni
- Writers from Winnipeg
- American women screenwriters
- Canadian women screenwriters
- Independent Spirit Award winners