'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' News, Spoilers: Nia Vardalos Explains Why Sequel Took So Long, John Stamos' Casting
14 years have passed since "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," the sleeper hit about a Greek American woman who falls in love with and marries a non-Greek man while coming to terms with her cultural identity, was released. The film, which was written by its star Nia Vardalos, went on to become the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
With the original film having been such a hit, coming out with a sequel immediately afterwards seemed to be the obvious next step. However, it took Vardalos, who wrote and starred in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2," nearly a decade and a half to come out with a follow-up.
Now, the actress speaks up about her inspiration for the sequel, why John Stamos is in the film, and what's next after "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2."
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Vardalos admitted that it took her nearly four years to finish the script and that she had been waiting to become a mother herself before she could write about her character's experience as a mother. In the sequel, her character Toula deals with the challenges of parenting a teenager while also working on her marriage and caring for her elderly parents.
"It came to me on my daughter's first day of kindergarten," the actress/writer told Yahoo!'s Katie Couric. "I realized I couldn't let go, and I had morphed into my own suffocating Greek parents."
Asked why it was important to cast Stamos in the sequel, Vardalos answered, "John Stamos' mom had mentioned to me before she passed away that if I ever did a sequel, it'd sure be fun to have John in it."
"I had to keep my promise to her," she said.
As for whether or not the story of Toula, Ian (John Corbett), and their family could continue on after "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2," Vardalos recounted her and Corbett's conversation at the end of the sequel's production. According to the actress, as she and her co-star were walking off the set, Corbett turned to her and said, "Hey baby, let's do this again."
And her response?
"I said, 'I need a little time to write it but I won't make you wait 14 years,'" she told EW.
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" premieres Friday, March 25.
