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Nia Vardalos Opens Up About My ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’ Family And ‘Golden Girls’ Dinner [Video]

By Rachelle Lewis
Published on: 08:07 PST, Mar 18, 2016

Nia Vardalos’ press tour for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 has her talking about everything from the long-awaited sequel, to a dinner with the Golden Girls and her struggle for a family.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 opens in one week and the movie’s star, Nia Vardalos, is more than happy to talk about it. Vardalos shared with People magazine the real reason it took 14 years for the sequel to be made. The reason, as it turns out, was because of Nia and a very personal struggle she was going through.

Vardalos, who also wrote and produced both films, shared that she wanted to be able to have the real life experience of being a mother before writing the sequel. If you recall at the end of the first film, Nia and John Corbett’s characters have a 7-year-old daughter. Being the talented and true artist that she is, Nia Vardalos wanted to write her character authentically in the second film and she felt that couldn’t happen until she had a child of her own.

“I wouldn’t know the emotions of what to write. I just said, ‘I can’t do it.’.”

Along with the revelation that My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 was essentially delayed because of her, Nia shared her struggle to have a family. Vardalos revealed that she went through 13 rounds of IVF treatment and suffered seven miscarriages before she became open to adoption. It is a struggle many women go through and despite the fact that the topic is discussed more openly these days, Nia Vardalos still felt embarrassed

“I felt so embarrassed that I couldn’t have a biological child.”

As it turns out, life had another plan for Vardalos and her husband, actor Ian Gomez. After over nine years of struggling to have a child, the couple got a call that would not only change their lives, but would make Nia happier than she ever thought she could be. The couple was matched with a 3-year-old, Ilaria. Their daughter is now almost 11-years-old and Nia is over the moon with motherhood.

“I am so grateful and can’t imagine my life without her.”

While appearing on the Today Show with her My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 co-stars Joey Fatone, Lainie Kazan, and Andrea Martin, Nia Vardalos shared that on her daughter’s first day of kindergarten, she began writing the script for the film. That means that Nia has actually been working on the sequel for six years.

Although Nia has spent much of the press time for the film talking about the delay and her struggle to be a mom, she told Jimmy Fallon a different story on a recent episode of The Tonight Show. This story has nothing to do with the movie but had everything to do with The Golden Girls. Vardalos told Jimmy the story about how Rue McClanahan invited her to dinner once. You will have to watch the below video to get all the details of Nia’s story, but let’s just say it was not what she expected and it ended with Vardalos and Gomez giving Estelle Getty a ride home.

After years of waiting for a sequel, the wait is almost over for fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Now that Nia Vardalos has so openly and honestly explained the delay for the sequel, fans can simply just sit back and watch what will no doubt be another comedic hit for the cast.

What do you think about Nia’s story of becoming a mother and how it affected her writing for her onscreen alter-ego Toula? Are you excited to see the Portokalos family come together again for another infamous Greek wedding?

[Photo by Michael Buckner/Staff/Getty Images]

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