Nia Vardalos is a critically acclaimed actress, screenwriter, and producer born on September 24, 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Doreen and Constantine Vardalos. Her mother worked as a bookkeeper while her father worked as a land developer. Belonging from a good-natured family, Nia Vardalos started to take interest in acting at a very young age. She started her professional career as an actress in the theater company Rainbow Stage. The company eventually awarded her a scholarship to study acting at Ryerson University's School Of Acting. Two years later, she joined Toronto’s Second City theater troupe and later became a regular performer at the Chicago's Second City stage. It was her during her performance at the Wind City that she met her future husband Ian Gomez. They married in September 1993 and moved to Los Angeles shortly after.
Nia Vardalos and her husband have appeared together in numerous television shows and films including The Drew Carey Show and Meet Prince Charming. Vardalos gained her overnight success in 2003 when she starred in the widely acclaimed romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, in which she also wrote the script. In the movie, Vardalos played the Greel-American woman Toula. The film was the highest grossing movie in 2002, earning a towering figure of USD $241,438,208 during its whole theatrical run. It was the most successful independent features in film history, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
In 2004, she co-starred with Toni Collette and David Duchovny in the comedy Connie and Carla, in which she is also the film’s producer and screenwriter. In the movie, Vardalos played the struggling stage actress Connie. In 2008, Vardalos co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss, Alexis Georgoulis, Rachel Dratch, Harland Williams and British comedy actor Alistair McGowan in the romantic comedy film My Life in the Ruins.
Vardalos’s other movies include A Wilderness of Monkeys and I Hate Valentines.