Actress & Writer Born in Winnipeg - Manitoba, Canada
A film that unquestionably proves the effectiveness that positive word of
mouth can have, Nia Vardalos' My Big Fat Greek Wedding was the very definition
of the independent sleeper that came from virtually nowhere to become an Oscar
nominated breakout hit that would compete with such summer 2002 heavies as
Signs, Austin Powers in Goldmember, and XXX.
With virtually no television advertising to speak of and no billboards to
build an audience in the weeks before its release, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
continued to build box-office momentum to become one of the most successful
independent features ever released.
Born Antonia Eugenia Vardalos in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in September
1962, Vardalos' good-natured and eccentric family encouraged the talented
youngster's creativity she began exhibiting when she was merely six years old.
Her love of performing led Vardalos to begin her professional career at the
Rainbow Stage, a theater company that eventually provided her with the means to
get a scholarship to Toronto's Ryerson University in 1986.
It was two short years later that the emerging performer would join Toronto's
Second City theater troupe, moving to Chicago's Second City stage shortly
thereafter. Introduced to future husband Ian Gomez while performing in the Windy
City, the couple married in September 1993 and moved to Los Angeles shortly
thereafter.
Both Vardalos and Gomez began appearing on numerous small-screen shows such
as The Drew Carey Show, and it wasn't long before Vardalos, inspired by her
eccentric family and her colorful childhood, began to pen a stage play entitled
My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Penning her first draft in a mere two weeks, the play
was assembled based on her friends' recollection of humorous stories about her
family and centered around her account of her and Gomez's memorable wedding.
A stage hit that soon drew the attention of actress Rita Wilson, Wilson
recommended the play to husband Tom Hanks and after Hanks attended the following
night's performance of the charming one-woman play, the couple agreed that a
film version would captivate audiences. Though she faced much adversity by means
of executives eager to cast a major star and tinker with her winning script,
Vardalos stuck to her guns and brought her vision to the screen fully intact for
a paltry five million dollars, a gamble that paid off when word of mouth found
audiences flocking to the film in record numbers. ~ Jason Buchanan,
All Movie Guide
A film that unquestionably proves the effectiveness that positive word of
mouth can have, Nia Vardalos' My Big Fat Greek Wedding was the very definition
of the independent sleeper that came from virtually nowhere to become an Oscar
nominated breakout hit that would compete with such summer 2002 heavies as
Signs, Austin Powers in Goldmember, and XXX. 
