Nia Vardalos began her professional career with Rainbow Stage, the theatre would later award her with a scholarship to study drama at Ryerson University in Toronto. It was two short years later that the emerging performer would join Toronto’s Second City theatre troupe, moving to Chicago’s Second City stage shortly thereafter. In 1994, she was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for her performance in “Whitewater for Chocolate,” opposite Jenna Jolovitz, Jimmy Doyle and Scott Adsit. Later that year, she made her television debut with a guest appearance in “Missing Persons,” alongside her husband, who played Pete.
After moving to Los Angeles with her husband, Vardalos began appearing in numerous small-screen shows such as The Drew Carey Show, and it wasn’t long after that she would begin to pen together a stage play entitled My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The show was staged in many theaters in Los Angeles and became a hit. It attracted the attention of actress Rita Wilson, who would recommend the play to her husband Tom Hanks, after attending the following night’s performance of the charming one-woman play, the couple agreed that a film version would captivate audiences.
The critical reception to the film was positive and the movie emerged as a sleeper hit. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” grossed over $241 million in the domestic market, making it the fifth highest grossing movie of 2002 and the most successful romantic comedy film in history. It eventually collected over $368 million worldwide, well surpassing its budget of $5 million. Vardalos was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Writing, Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance. The film also brought her a Discover Screenwriting Award at the 2003 American Screenwriters Association, a WAFCA Award for Best Screenplay, a Canadian Comedy Award for Film - Pretty Funny Female Performance (also a nomination for Film - Pretty Funny Writing), an MTV Movie nomination for Breakthrough Female Performance, an Online Film Critics Society nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance, a Phoenix Film Critics Society for Best Newcomer (also a nomination for Best Screenplay - Original), and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, to name a few. Following the huge success of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” Vardalos created the continuation television series “My Big Fat Greek Life” with the actress starring as Nia Miller, opposite Steven Eckholdt as Thomas Miller. Vardalos also served as an executive producer with the Hanks couple.
Recently, Vardalos appeared as Eileen in the pilot episode of the comedy series “The Good Guys,” which starred Tom Hanks' son Colin Hanks. She played a supporting role in the movie “Larry Crowne” (2011), starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. She also co-wrote the script with Tom Hanks.
