Nia Vardalos: ‘Very Supportive’ Family Inspired MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING Movies
By Movieguide® Contributor
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING star Nia Vardalos shares how the importance of family has impacted her work on the franchise.
“In our family, everyone is funny,” she said in an interview with Parade. “That’s the way you got attention.”
Vardalos continued, “We would eat a large meal every Sunday — and probably all the other days of the week too. We poked fun at each other, but we were never rude. If you ever hurt anyone’s feelings, you’d gone too far. Because preserving the family was more important than being funny; we were all very, very supportive of each other. And growing up in that comfort zone, that ‘bubble,’ gave me an inordinate amount of confidence later.”
In the latest installment of the franchise, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3, Vardalos reflected on the influence Greek culture has had on her.
“Any child of immigrants rebels against tradition,” she told Town & Country. “And then we morph into our parents and become immersed in them all. It felt like a disservice to not have that in a movie.”
Vardalos also spoke about why the movies are still so popular today.
“I think that we are real people who could be your family,” she said of her co-stars. “And I think our kookiness and our flawed, not perfect-ness is reflected in our audience’s hearts. And I believe that there is an energetic exchange in a movie theater. The audience sees themselves in us.”
“And we, as a family, see ourselves in the audience,” she continued. “We often talk as a cast how grateful we are for the experience of being a family who gets to grow old together, who made three movies together, we’re incredibly moved by the experience. Not one of us ever thinks we could have done it without each other and without the audience. We’re very grateful. I don’t think any of us has ever said no to a picture.”
A portion of the Movieguide® review for MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING reads:
Although it is clear that Toula and Ian are not super-religious, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING is a warm-hearted, often amusing celebration of Toula’s family heritage, including its Greek Orthodox Christian background. There is even a baptism scene where Ian gets baptized. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING also contains, however, a moderate amount of mostly light foul language, a short sequence of implied pre-marital sex and the stereotypical drinking of an alcoholic drink brought over to America by Greek immigrants.
The Movieguide® review for MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 reads:
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 has its sweet moments, but the messy storytelling, unsatisfying jokes and brief politically correct moments leave something to be desired. There are positive Christian, moral themes and content celebrating marriage, a church wedding, family bonds, and fighting for those you love. There’s very little foul language, and the immoral sexual content is much less. However, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 has some sexual references and jokes that warrant caution for older children.
Check back with Movieguide® for a review of the upcoming MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3.
