Biography - Nia Vardalos

Who is Nia Vardalos?

Nia Vardalos is an actress, screenwriter, and producer by profession, and Canadian by nationality. She is well known for her 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a one-woman stage play in which she also starred.

Nia Vardalos – Birth, Parents, Siblings

Nia Vardalos’ birth took place on September 24, 1962, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She was born Antonia Eugenia Vardalos to her father Constantine "Gus" Vardalos, a land developer, and her mother Doreen Christakis, a bookkeeper and homemaker. She is not the only child of her parents and has two siblings- sisters, Nancy Vardalos Ginakes and Marianne Vardalos.

Education, Ethnicity

For education, Nia Vardalos attended St. George School and Shaftesbury High School. After graduation, she went on to study at Ryerson University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in Theatre.

Her ethnicity is Greek.

Nia Vardalos – Boyfriend, Husband, Children, Divorce

Nia Vardalos married American actor Ian Gomez on 5 September 1993 after years of dating. In 2008, with her husband, she adopted a child, a daughter, Illaria (born in 2007). After 23 years of marriage, the pair divorced on 7 September 2018, having separated in 2017.

Currently, she is dating Spiros Katsagans. Her boyfriend is a lyricist from Athens, Greece.

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Nia Vardalos – Career

Early Days

In her early career, she landed many small roles, such as in TV shows The Drew Carey Show and Two Guys and a Girl. She also lent her voice to the 1996 radio adaptation of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Finally, in the early 2000s, Nia Vardalos wrote My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was based on a one-woman show that struggles to find love. It was based on her own personal experiences, had originally been written for the theatre, and had starred on stage. In 2002, the film was released and went on to be a huge critical and commercial success. Her next film, Connie and Carla, was released in 2004.

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Films, TV Series

Her directional debut, I Hate Valentine's Day, was released in 2009, followed by the film My Life in Ruins. Both films were a moderate success. With Tom Hanks, Nia Vardalos worked as a screenwriter in the 2011 film Larry Crowne. Her movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, in which she also starred as Toula Portokalosn, was released in March 2016.

As an actress, she has appeared in the films Dealin' with Idiots (2013), Car Dogs (2015), Charming (2018), The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022), etc. Moreover, she has had guest / recurring appearances in the TV series My Boys (2008), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2013-2023), Graves (2016), DuckTales (2018), to name a few.

In recent years, Vardalos has starred in the TV films Same Time, Next Christmas (2019) and Lifetime’s Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story (2020).

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Co-stars

On the set of  My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Nia Vardalos has worked with Elena Kampouris, Joey Fatone, John Stamos, Alex Wolff, and Gia Carides.

Nia Vardalos – Awards, Nominations

For her work as a screenwriter in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Vardalos was nominated for an Academy Award, Satellite Award, Writers Guild of America, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, and London Film Critics Circle Award while as an actress in the same film, she was nominated for Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, MTV Movie Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, etc.

She won the Independent Spirit Awards — Best Debut Performance in 2003.

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Nia Vardalos – Net Worth, Salary

The net worth of Vardalos is estimated at around $10 million, but her annual salary is unknown.

Nia Vardalos – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media sites Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, Nia Vardalos is followed by millions of followers and counting.

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