The journey of My Big Fat Greek Wedding hitting the silver screen wasn’t an easy one. But, the hard work of Nia Vardalos paid off as the sleeper hit expanded into multiple films. In fact, the release date of the third film will be September 8th. Before the first Greek Wedding movie came out, the Canadian actress experienced criticism from her first agent for her appearance.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding originally started as a one-woman play written by Nia Vardalos that premiered in 1997. Garnering a big-screen adaptation for her script came off as a fantasy to her first agent. According to Variety, Vardalos’ interview with MovieMaker Magazine revealed her first agent thought her looks weren’t leading lady material.
“The reality is that it hurt to be told that my ethnicity and my looks were the problem. I never had my looks categorized as being detrimental to my career. So, anyway, f— her, because look how it turned out,” said Vardalos. “My agent told me I wasn’t pretty enough to be a leading lady and not fat enough to be a character actor.”
Despite the harsh criticism, Vardalos continued to talk about how she refused to let what her first agent said to bring her down.
“I realized that story and that negativity was going to drag me down. I had to turn the experiences into something, so I borrowed a friend’s computer and wrote the screenplay for ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’”
How Nia Vardalos Got My Big Fat Greek Wedding Going
Sometimes, it helps if your work finds the right people. According to ScreenMancer, the talented performer’s play about her Greek family and marriage to a non-Greek was marketed towards Greek Orthodox churches. Fortunately, many Hollywood executives and celebrities saw it. Among them was Rita Wilson, who is also of Greek descent. Meetings with Hollywood executives proved unsuccessful as they wanted to change the plot, the family’s ethnicity, and get a known actress to play the lead. Vardalos, on the other hand, objected to all changes.
Hope was not lost as Rita Wilson showed the play to her husband, Tom Hanks. Through his production company, Playtone, he agreed to produce the film. We can also thank him for the brilliant idea of having its screenwriter be the lead so the personal experiences she wrote about would reflect in her acting. Before you know it, filming took place in Chicago and the comedy premiered in 2002.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding became a critical and box office success. Nia Vardalos even managed to snag a Best Screenplay nomination at the Oscars and a Best Actress nomination at the Golden Globes as well. A second movie came out in 2014 in addition to a third film that has Vardalos in the director’s chair. The My Life in Ruins actress told Variety her co-star John Corbett wouldn’t return for a third installment if Vardalos didn’t direct it. He would know her directing talent well as she directed him in their movie I Hate Valentine’s Day.
