Nia Vardalos
{{Short description|Canadian actress and screenwriter (born 1962)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nia Vardalos
| image = Nia Vardalos in 2011 cropped retouched.jpg
| caption = Vardalos in 2011
| birth_name = Antonia Eugenia Vardalos
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=y|1962|9|24}}
| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| years_active = 1996–present
| alma_mater = Toronto Metropolitan University (BFA)
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|comedian|screenwriter|director|producer}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Ian Gomez|1993|2018|reason=divorced}}
| children = 1
}}
Antonia Eugenia "Nia" Vardalos{{cite web |title=Vardalos, Nia 1962– |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/vardalos-nia-1962 |website=Encyclopedia.com |publisher=Cengage |access-date=August 3, 2022}}{{efn|{{IPAc-en|'|n|i:|@|_|v|a:r|'|d|ae|l|@|s}} {{respell|NEE|ə|_|var|DAL|əs}}; {{langx|el|Αντωνία Ευγενία "Νία" Βαρντάλος|Antonía Evgenía "Nía" Varntálos}}, {{IPA|el|(andoˈni.a evʝe)ˈni.a varˈdalos|pron}}.}} (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She starred in and wrote the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), which garnered her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, and which went on to spawn a media franchise.
Early life
Vardalos was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on September 24, 1962. She is the daughter of Greek-Canadian parents Doreen Christakos, a bookkeeper and homemaker, and Constantine "Gus" Vardalos, a land developer who was born in Kalavryta.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/05/1033538810677.html|location=Melbourne|work=The Age|title=Sending up the Greek in spirit|date=October 6, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410234646/http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/sending-up-the-greek-in-spirit-20021006-gdunti.html |archive-date=April 10, 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2002-08-27-greek-side_x.htm|work=USA Today|title='Greek Wedding' marches on, much to Hollywood's surprise|first1=Andy|last1=Seiler|date=August 28, 2002|access-date=May 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211015937/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/2002-08-27-greek-side_x.htm |archive-date=February 11, 2021}} She attended St. George School and Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg and Toronto Metropolitan University{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804536542/bio|title=Nia Vardalos profile|website=Yahoo! Movies|accessdate=July 2, 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051207055534/movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804536542/bio|archivedate=December 7, 2005}} in Toronto.
Career
An alumna of the Chicago-based Second City comedy repertory company, Vardalos wrote and performed in over ten revues of sketch comedy and won Chicago's Joseph Jefferson award for Best Actress. 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. First performed as a one-woman show of the same name,{{cite news |last1=Manus |first1=Willard |title=My Big Fat Greek Wedding Headed for L.A.'s Globe Jan. 15 -- and Film |url=https://playbill.com/article/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-headed-for-las-globe-jan-15-and-film-com-72878 |access-date=27 February 2025 |work=Playbill |date=15 January 1998}} the film was a 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|date=July 2015}}
The sleeper hit quickly became one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time, and the number one romantic comedy of all time. Vardalos hosted Saturday Night Live in the fall of 2002.
The next film she starred in, which she also wrote, and in which she also sang and danced, was Connie and Carla, released in 2004; this became a cult-hit musical{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} , and is about two women pretending to be drag queens.{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804536542|title=Nia Vardalos|publisher=Yahoo! Movies|work=Movies|access-date=March 13, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514002350/movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804536542|archivedate=May 14, 2006}} (The plot has been compared to that of Some Like It Hot, the 1959 American romantic comedy film by Billy Wilder, in that the female leads of Connie And Carla were hiding from criminals whose crimes they had witnessed and who could still kill both of them had they been found.)
Vardalos made her directorial debut in 2009 with the independent feature I Hate Valentine's Day. The film, about a florist finding romance, was made for less than $400,000 and grossed $1,985,260 on a limited release at the international box-office. This was followed by My Life in Ruins, about a misguided tour-guide traveling around Greece and featuring Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss. The film was the first American production given permission to film at the Acropolis of Athens; Vardalos personally sought the approval from the Greek government and credits her years of Greek School for helping her be fluent in the language.
In 2011, Vardalos collaborated with Tom Hanks to write the romantic comedy film Larry Crowne for the screen, which grossed $59.8 million; Vardalos also voiced the character Map Genie in the film.
In 2016, Vardalos adapted Cheryl Strayed's beloved book, Tiny Beautiful Things, and starred in the sold out run of the play at The Public Theater in New York, directed by Thomas Kail. Vardalos reprised her role in 2017 at The Public, and again at the Pasadena Playhouse in California.
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 sang The Beatles song "Golden Slumbers" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams – Songs from the Stars.
Vardalos starred in and wrote My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which was released in March 2016. It earned over $60 million domestically from an $18 million budget.
From 2015 to 2017, Vardalos and Gomez co-presented the first two seasons of The Great American Baking Show, formerly known as The Great Holiday Baking Show, for ABC-TV.{{cite web|url=http://abc.go.com/shows/the-great-american-baking-show/about-the-show|title=The Great American Baking Show|website=ABC|accessdate=December 9, 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101023433/abc.go.com/shows/the-great-american-baking-show/about-the-show|archivedate=November 1, 2016}}
In 2018, Vardalos guest-starred in an episode of The CW series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/tv/2018/09/02/get-the-first-details-on-nia-vardalos-character-in-crazy-ex-girlfriend/|title=Get the first details on Nia Vardalos' character in Crazy-Ex Girlfriend|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|last=Highfill|first=Samantha|date=September 2, 2018|access-date=September 5, 2018}}
In 2019, Vardalos played Faye Anderson in the ABC television holiday film Same Time, Next Christmas.{{Citation|title=Same Time, Next Christmas (TV Movie 2019)|website=IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10650924/|language=en|access-date=November 29, 2019}} In 2020, in what was, for her, a rare turn to both serious, non-comedy acting and impostures of real people, she impersonated convicted poisoner Stacey Castor in the made-for-television movie Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story,{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/tv/nia-vardalos-lifetime-poisoned-love-the-stacey-castor-story/|title=Nia Vardalos Stars as a Wife Who Kills in Lifetime's Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story|website=PEOPLE.com|date=January 31, 2020|first=Jodi|last=Guglielmi}} which Lifetime Television transmitted.
In September 2022, Vardalos, along with comedian Rob Riggle, created, wrote, and starred in the 10 episode comedy podcast Motivated! for Audible Original and Broadway Video.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/audible-broadway-video-comedy-podcast-slate-hot-white-heist-season-2-1235365054/|title=Audible Sets Four New Comedy Podcasts From Broadway Video, Renews 'Hot White Heist' Starring Bowen Yang for Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE)|website=Variety|date=September 9, 2022|first=Todd|last=Spangler|accessdate=September 29, 2022}}
In 2023, Vardalos reprised her role as Toula Portakalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 in which she served as director and screenwriter.{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-3-confirmed-details/|title=My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Is Officially In The Works|website=Screen Rant|date=April 8, 2021|first=Bethany|last=Guerrero|accessdate=September 29, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-3-production-start/|title=Let the Fun Begin! 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3' Begins Filming in Greece|website=Collider|first=Jon|last=Mendelsohn|date=June 22, 2022|accessdate=September 29, 2022}} That same year, she guest starred in the midseason finale of the first part of season three of the television series Chucky as Evelyn Elliot, a fellow death row inmate in Texas.{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/2023/tv/news/chucky-midseason-finale-don-mancini-nia-vardalos-sarah-sherman-1235766973/|title='Chucky' Creator Don Mancini on Why That Finale Death Was One of His Favorites and the Possibility of a Faceoff With M3GAN|date=October 25, 2023|website=Variety|first=Hunter|last=Ingram|access-date=January 24, 2024}}
Personal life
In September 1993, Vardalos married American actor Ian Gomez.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/movies/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-nia-vardalos-settles-divorce/|title=My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos Settles Divorce 2 Months After Initial Filing|website=People|date=September 7, 2018|first=Alexa|last=Fernandez|accessdate=January 31, 2019}} After trying for nine years to conceive through IVF and surrogacy, Vardalos and Gomez adopted their child in 2008. At the time they were three years old and part of the foster care system.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/parents/nia-vardalos-daughter-adoption-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-2-delay/|title=Nia Vardalos on Her Emotional Journey to Adopt Her Daughter - and Why It Delayed My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2|website=People|date=December 2, 2020|accessdate=November 6, 2021}} In 2013, Vardalos wrote a book about the experience, a New York Times bestseller she titled Instant Mom, and she donated all the proceeds from its royalties to adoption groups. Vardalos also wrote an advice column about the adoption process in The Huffington Post.{{cite web|url=https://huffpost.com/entry/the-list_b_161241|title=The List|website=The Huffington Post|date=February 27, 2009|first=Nia|last=Vardalos|accessdate=January 28, 2009}}
On July 3, 2018, it was announced that Vardalos had filed for divorce from Gomez after 25 years of marriage, and that they had already been separated since June 2017.{{cite web|url=https://eonline.com/news/949161/nia-vardalos-files-for-divorce-from-ian-gomez-after-23-years-of-marriage|title=Nia Vardalos Files for Divorce From Ian Gomez After 25 Years of Marriage|website=E! News|date=July 3, 2018|first=Mike|last=Vulpo|accessdate=July 3, 2018}} The divorce was finalized two months later.
Filmography
=Film=
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=2|1996
|rowspan=2|Uncredited | Episode: "Father Knows Best" |
| Common Law
| Episode: "In the Matter of, Acceptance" |
| 1997
| data-sort-value="Drew Carey Show, The" | The Drew Carey Show | Grace Almada | Episode: "Strange Bedfellows" |
| 1997–1998
| Domino (voice) | 22 episodes |
| 1998–1999
| Miss Gallagher (uncredited) | 2 episodes |
| rowspan=2|1999
| Mindy | Episode: "Memories of Me" |
| Two Guys and a Girl
| Evelyn | Episode: "Career Day" |
| 2000
| Larry's Lawyer | Episode: "Interior Decorator" |
| 2002
| Host | Episode: "Nia Vardalos/Eve" |
| 2003
| Nia Portokalos | Writer and executive producer; 7 episodes |
| 2008
| My Boys | Jo | 3 episodes |
| 2009
| Lisa Shane | Episode: "What If?" |
| 2010
| data-sort-value="Good Guys, The" | The Good Guys | Eileen | Pilot episode |
| 2011
| Angela Torres | Episode: "Damaged by Love" |
| 2012
| Karen | Episode: "Hope for the Hopeless" |
| 2013–2023
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Attorney Minonna Efron | 4 episodes |
| 2015–2019
| Angie Diaz | Recurring voice role; 10 episodes |
| rowspan=3| 2015
| Marry Me | Pam | Episode: "Mom Me" |
| Jane the Virgin
| Barbara Stanbrook | Episode: "Chapter Nineteen" |
| data-sort-value="Great Holiday Baking Show, The" | The Great Holiday Baking Show
| Co-presenter | |
| rowspan=3| 2016
| data-sort-value="Catch, The" | The Catch | Leah Wells | 3 episodes |
| Graves
| Annie Spiro | 7 episodes |
| data-sort-value="Great American Baking Show, The" | The Great American Baking Show
| Co-presenter (with Ian Gomez) | Baking competition |
| 2017
| Dr. Ken | Tiffany | Episode: "Ken's Big Audition" |
| rowspan=2| 2018
| Selene | Voice role; 4 episodes |
| Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
| Wendy Legrand | Episode: "I'm On My Own Path" |
| 2019
| Same Time, Next Christmas | Faye Anderson |rowspan=2| Television Film |
| 2020
| Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story |
| 2021
| Patricia | Episode: "100% or Nothing" |
| rowspan=2| 2022
| Theresa | Episode: "Fast Times At Creekwood High" |
| Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
| Madame Levine | Episode: "Dreams in the Witch House" |
| 2023
| Chucky | Evelyn Elliot | Episode: "Dressed to Kill" |
| 2025
| Sally Sphinx | Voice, episode: "Mickey and the Cozy Fleece" |
Stage
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|889522|Nia Vardalos}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090130112938/http://the1secondfilm.com/producer/10033 Nia Vardalos's Executive Producer Profile on The 1 Second Film website]
- {{Charlie Rose view|2082}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Nia Vardalos
|list =
{{Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance}}
{{Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vardalos, Nia}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century Canadian actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:21st-century Canadian actresses
Category:Actresses from Winnipeg
Category:American film actresses
Category:American writers of Greek descent
Category:American television actresses
Category:American voice actresses
Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States
Category:Canadian film actresses
Category:Canadian people of Greek descent
Category:Canadian television actresses
Category:Canadian voice actresses
Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Canada
Category:Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States
Category:Toronto Metropolitan University alumni
Category:Writers from Winnipeg
Category:American women screenwriters
Category:Canadian women screenwriters
Category:Independent Spirit Award winners
Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States