Early and personal life

Vardalos was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on September 24, 1962. She is the daughter of Greek Canadian parents Doreen, a bookkeeper and homemaker, and Constantine "Gus" Vardalos, a land developer. She attended St. George School and Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg and Ryerson University in Toronto. She married American actor Ian Gomez on September 5, 1993. Gomez converted to Greek Orthodoxy prior to marrying her. In 2008, they adopted a daughter named Ilaria. She posted an advice column about the adoption process at The Huffington Post. She became a U.S. citizen in 1999.

Career

An alumna of the Chicago-based Second City comedy repertory company, 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, which was based on a one-woman show which Vardalos had previously written for the theater and starred in onstage. The film was a huge 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.

The sleeper hit, which quickly became one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time, led to the unsuccessful CBS spin-off series, My Big Fat Greek Life. The show was cancelled after seven episodes and featured the entire cast from the film, aside from John Corbett. Her next film, released in 2004, was Connie and Carla, a musical about two women pretending to be drag queens.

She made her directing debut in 2009 with the independent feature I Hate Valentine's Day. The film, about a florist finding romance, received only a limited release and grossed $1,985,260 at the international box-office. This was followed by My Life in Ruins, about a misguided tour-guide travelling around Greece and featuring Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss. The film was the first American production given permission to film at the Acropolis; Vardalos sought the approval from the Greek Government. The film was a moderate success at both the international box-office and DVD sales.

In 2011, Vardalos collaborated with Tom Hanks to write the romantic comedy film Larry Crowne for the screen. The film received moderate reviews and was a commercial success, grossing $59.8 million; Vardalos also voiced the character Map Genie in the film. As of 2013, Vardalos was slated to star in the upcoming films Talk of the Town (2012) and A Wilderness of Monkeys (2013).

Vardalos is among many celebrities helping to produce The 1 Second Film art project. Vardalos was featured in The Dialogue interview series. In this 90 minute interview with producer Mike DeLuca, Vardalos talks 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 performed The Beatles song "Golden Slumbers" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams - Songs From the Stars. Vardalos starred in and co-wrote My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which was released March 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	No Experience Necessary	Sheila
1997	Men Seeking Women	Iris
1999	Meet Prince Charming	Jennifer
2002	My Big Fat Greek Wedding	Toula Portokalos	As Writer American Screenwriters Association Award - Discover Screenwriting Award Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Writer Nominated — London Film Critics' Circle Award for Screenwriter of the Year Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay As Actress Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Newcomer Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Comedy or Musical Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Female Breakthrough Performance Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Connie and Carla	Connie	also writer
2006	Greece: Secrets of the Past	Narrator
2009	My Life in Ruins	Georgia Yanokoupolis
2009	I Hate Valentine's Day	Genevieve	also writer and director
2011	Larry Crowne	Map Genie (voice)	also joint screenwriter with Tom Hanks
2012	For a Good Time, Call...	Rachel Rodman
2012	An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars	Mrs. Brooks
2013	Dealin' with Idiots	Ava Morris
2015	Helicopter Mom	Maggie
2015	Dogs, CarCar Dogs	Sharon
2015	Me Not, ForgetForget Me Not	Catherine
2016	My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2	Toula Portokalos	also writer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	High Incident	Uncredited	Episode: "Father Knows Best"
1996	Common Law	uncredited	Episode: "In the Matter of, Acceptance"
1997	Men Seeking Women	Iris
1997	Drew Carey Show, TheThe Drew Carey Show	Grace Almada	Episode: "Strange Bedfellows"
1997-98	Team Knight Rider	Domino (voice)	22 episodes
1998-99	Boy Meets World	Uncredited	2 episodes
1999	It's Like, You Know...	Mindy	Episode: "Memories of Me"
1999	Two Guys and a Girl	Evelyn	Episode: "Career Day"
2000	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Larry's Lawyer	Episode: "Interior Decorator"
2002	Saturday Night Live	Host
2003	My Big Fat Greek Life	Nia Portokalos	Writer and executive producer; 7 episodes
2008	My Boys	Jo	3 episodes
2009	Drop Dead Diva	Lisa Shane	1 episode
2010	Good Guys, TheThe Good Guys	Eileen	Pilot episode
2011	Cougar Town	Andy's sister in law	Episode: "Damaged by Love"
2012	Grey's Anatomy	Karen	1 episode
2013-14	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Attorney Minonna Efron	3 episodes
2015	Marry Me	Pam	Episode: "Mom Me"
2015	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Mrs. Diaz	Voice role
2015	Jane the Virgin	Barbara Stanbrook	Episode: "Chapter Nineteen"
2015	The Great Holiday Baking Show	Presenter	Baking competition
2016	The Catch	Leah Wells	2 episodes

Charities

Nia Vardalos supports the following charitable causes: Cancer, Breast Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]