“If you create a fun environment, people will take liberties and grow and expand. And then you'll get your final screenplay in my favorite style, which is 'tossed away' - as if the actor just thought of it.”

Canadian actress and screenwriter

Antonia Eugenia “Nia” Vardalos is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She is best known for writing and starring in the 2002 romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a film that brought her major award recognition and later became the basis for a larger media franchise. Vardalos’s work on the film earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical. Her public profile is closely tied to that success, as both performer and writer in a story that reached a wide audience.