Nia Vardalos Had to ‘Live Life’ to Write ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’

When ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ opened in 2002, it made its star and writer, Nia Vardalos, a celebrity overnight. “I’m somebody ordinary that something extraordinary happened to,” she told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Now, after the 2016 sequel, Vardalos is bringing the Portokalos family back with ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ (September 8). Part of what has kept us coming back to the family is that “we are real people who could be your family. And I think our kookiness and our flawed, not perfect-ness is reflected in our audience’s hearts.” And now, with Vardalos taking on the role of star, director, writer and producer, she’s decided the family must go to Greece, which was made possible through Greek tax credits and Faliro House Productions, who made it “their determination to get me what I wanted, which was all of Greece shoved into one movie.” And all of that happened because of Vardalos’ commitment to and love of her heritage. “Those were the pluses of having Greek heritage, being fluent in Greek making movies about Greece, we were given a lot of goodwill.” Visit Newsweek.com to learn more about the podcasts we offer and to catch up on the latest news. While you’re there, subscribe to Newsweek’s ‘For the Culture newsletter. Follow H. Alan Scott on everything at @HAlanScott. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.