Opa! Two decades after Nia Vardalos’ My Big Fat Greek Wedding It was a hit at the box office and has remained a popular romantic comedy.
“It’s a really sweet franchise,” Ian GomezOnly gushed Us Weekly in November 2019 about his ex-wife’s 2002 film and its 2016 sequel. “[Nia] has so many people that have come up to her and just said the most amazing things about, like, their families getting back together because of the film, or like, ‘My dad and I didn’t talk and then we bonded over this film.’ It’s a legacy. I mean, it’s amazing.”
My Big Fat Greek Wedding premiered in April 2002 and followed 30-year-old Toula Portakalos (played by Vardalos) as she worked in her family’s restaurant in Chicago. Toula — the middle child in her Greek-American brood — became an expert at dodging her meddlesome family’s countless matchmaking attempts. She vows to take charge of her life, enrolling in a community college class and working for her aunt’s travel agency. Toula also finds a love interest in Ian Miller, a schoolteacher.John Corbett) despite her family’s concerns about him not being Greek.
“We’ve become such good friends over the years. [John is]He was a wonderful person. He’s the first cast member that I told that we were going to go back and do the sequel,” the My Life in Ruins Star only told Use in May 2016. “My favorite scene that we filmed together was when we were walking toward the car to do the makeout scene. We looked at eachother and saw that it was exactly where we had filmed last. We were on the exact same street with the same car that was parked in the exact same spot. It was very nostalgic to go back after all of these years.”
After Toula’s parents (portrayed by Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan) throw her and Ian an over-the-top wedding, the couple soon embraced a new journey: parenthood. The first film — which earned Vardalos an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay — inspired My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, It was released on March 16, 2016. The sequel introduced Toula and Ian’s teenage daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris), as she hopes to leave her loud extended family for college.
Six years later, the McKenna Shoots for Stars actress reunited with her My Big Fat Greek Wedding Castmates for a Third Film
“A lot of family crammed into two pics. There are many more in the film. 😉 edit: yes including Aunt Voula! I can see in the comments that you are wondering about certain characters,” Vardalos teased of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3She directed it via Instagram in July 2022. “Yes, everyone was invited back. If you don’t see them in photos, you will see them in the film.”
The third franchise iteration, which was filmed across Greece, is set to serve as a tribute to the movie’s patriarch, Constantine, who died before Vardalos completed the script. An official release date has not been announced.
Scroll down to see the My Big Fat Greek Wedding cast:
