Nia Vardalos

Her one-woman play "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was turned into a movie after Rita Wilson saw the play and recommended it to her husband Tom Hanks.
Married NY-born TV actor Ian Gomez in Winnipeg's St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.
Her parents are both of Greek descent.
She and her ex-husband Ian Gomez adopted a little girl named Illaria (b. 2007) in 2008.
Became a naturalized U.S. citizen on April 20, 1999.

You're never too fat for a new purse.
I'd been raised by my parents who taught me not to think you're better than you are. And that I think is what Larry Crowne is going through. [He] will do anything to make a living, and that is indicative I think globally, and much more so in this country. People are just trying to get by. There's a relevance to 'Larry Crowne' that's fortunate and unfortunate. This is not a downer movie, this is an uplifting movie and yet it is not out of the realm of ordinary. It's what can happen if you keep your heart open.
When I worked at 'Second City' in Canada, they brought me down to Chicago on a work permit. I was thrilled to be in Chicago. What I didn't know is that you only make $65 a show. I was a child of immigrants, so everyone worked. I had a job at 16. And although I didn't like that I'm very, very grateful for that now because it taught me to be self-supporting. It's not like suddenly, when you become a working actor all your friends are in the same situation. I have friends who are still handing out flyers for their one-woman show and trying to make ends meet.
[on her stint as a "caterer" for a student porn film spoof] My friend asked me if I wanted to be in the film, and I said, 'No, but I'll come and make food for everybody - because I'm so very Greek.' So I came and, as a joke, she gave me the credit of 'caterer' and now it's on my credits forever. People think it was a real porn flick, and I really was a caterer.