E-Mail
Print
'My Life in Ruins' a fun rideAdvertisement
Vardalos took time off to live her life
Published online on Friday, Jun. 05, 2009
tool name
close
tool goes here
Comments (0)
Similar stories:
Nia Vardalos learned an important lesson the two years she stopped acting: You can't plan life.
"You just have to live it," says Vardalos in a telephone interview days before her new movie "My Life in Ruins" opens. In the light romantic comedy, Vardalos plays an uptight history professor turned tour guide who can't understand why her life hasn't gone according to schedule.
Vardalos, who became a box office sensation with her 2002 movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," stopped working because of a long battle with infertility. Her 10-year effort with husband Ian Gomez to have a child proved fruitless. She needed to quit work to deal with the emotional struggle.
"I had been taught all my life that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. The impossible had happened with my career where I had immense success, but this personal struggle was a problem I couldn't overcome," Vardalos says. "It is hard for me to say 'I give' because I just never have before.
"I am not the standard beautiful Hollywood female, and yet I get to be in movies. How does this happen for me? It was because I was raised to not take no for an answer. The only person who pushed back was Mother Nature. So I bowed my head and said 'uncle.' "
Not long after that, the couple adopted a 3-year-old girl from American Foster Care Resources. The actress now uses her fame to advocate for the organization.
It's no coincidence the message of "My Life in Ruins" is to let go and let life happen. Along with the chance to film in Greece, that was enough to get Vardalos back to work.
Stepping into the role of a tour guide in Greece was simple for Vardalos. She was born in Canada, but her Greek-Canadian parents made sure she was grounded in her heritage. She's even fluent in Greek.
Filming in Greece was special, especially shooting at the Parthenon. She loved everything from the countryside to the crew so much that she cried when filming ended, Vardalos says:
"At the time that I was shooting the movie I had found happiness again. I just knew everything was going to be OK and that there was a reason I went through it."
Adding to the joy, her parents traveled with her to Greece and have small roles in the movie.
"The reason I asked them and my husband to be in my movies is this is no fun unless you are sharing it with everybody you love," Vardalos says.
Her mother is in a scene in a coffee shop where Vardalos' character talks rather loudly about her lackluster sex life. The conversation gets a negative reaction from diners, especially mom.
"I didn't see my mother's reaction during the filming because it happened to my back," Vardalos says. "But when I saw the footage I laughed so hard I fell off the couch. I have seen that look many times before."
TV and movie critic Rick Bentley can be reached at rbentley@fresnobee.com or (559)441-6355. Read his blog at fresnobeehive.com/author/ rick_bentley.
A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.
Here are the ground rules:
- Be yourself. A nickname will be used for posts, but if an editor finds a user without a verifiable name, that user will be warned or banned.
- Keep it clean. Foul language (defined by prime-time standards) will not be tolerated. Neither will the intentional misspelling of foul language or the use of non-English curse words.
- Be truthful. Do not lie or link to sites that may be considered libelous, defamatory or false.
- Be nice. Don't harass anyone. Don't threaten anyone. Don't use racial slurs. Don't post anything sexually explicit.
- Be an individual. Do not advertise or solicit. Do not harvest any information for business use.
- Be original. Do not post copyrighted material.
- Follow the law. Don't do anything or post anything considered illegal by city, county, state or federal regulations and laws.
Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH
- From The Beehive
-
You Review Jay-Z
He came, he saw, he conquered. And Jay-Z didn't need an encore to win over the Fresno crowd. It seemed like he had them the second he stepped on stage. Jay-Z, the biggest star in rap, had the Fresno...read more »
Ponytail assaults on the rise -- now with real ponies
Remember the soccer player who dropped an opponent with a vicious tug of her ponytail? This horse saw that and was all, "B****, that's not how you pull a tail."...read more »
More on my New York experience
In Sunday's Spotlight section, my column is about my recent trip to New York City to attend the National Endowment for the Arts classical music/opera institute. We covered lots of issues during the 10 days, and I wanted to at...read more »
Complete Beehive → - Columnists
-
Donald Munro Arts draw audiences despite economy
The economy might be in the toilet, but as the fall performing arts season gets under way, at least a few local arts organizations are drawing impressive audiences: Read more →
- National entertainment
-
More stories →
TV star Rachael Ray helps reeling Ohio town
Television cooking star Rachael Ray is boosting the local food supply for a struggling Ohio town.
- Most Read Stories
-
- Most E-mailed
$(document).ready(function(){
$("dd:not(:first)").hide();
$("dt a").click(function(){
$("dd:visible").slideUp("fast");
$(this).parent().next().slideDown("fast");
return false;
});
});
@Nyx.CommentBody@