Nia Vardalos Biography

Nia Vardalos is the writer and star of the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a low-budget, independently produced feature that became one of the biggest box office hits of 2002.

Based on her own family background, the screenplay was adapted from Vardalos’s stage play (she received financial support from actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson).

The film’s success catapulted Vardalos to national fame, and spawned 2003’s My Big Fat Greek Life, a television series based on the movie.

Since then, she has appeared in the films My Life in Ruins (2009), Helicopter Mom (2014) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), made dozens of TV guest appearances and done voice work for the animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2015-19) and DuckTales (2019).