Because I am a character actor, I thought I would be the fourth or eighth banana on a sitcom, and that would be OK. – Nia Vardalos
We must make choices that are outside of the familial expectations of us, or we’ll just be repeating the mistakes. Our parents came here to give us better choices. – Nia Vardalos
Don’t settle; don’t compromise. Freeze your eggs, get your sociology doctorate, worry more about war and pestilence and the incredible inequality of geographical birth than finding your soulmate. – Nia Vardalos
My favorite part of any playdate comes later when I get to carry my exhausted and sleeping daughter to the car. Is there anything more trusting than a sleeping child completely and utterly leaning into your body? – Nia Vardalos
Like most women, I thought it would be easy once I decided to start a family. I was surprised that Mother Nature kept poking me in the eye, saying, ‘Nope, nope, nope.’ – Nia Vardalos
There are benefits to adopting a toddler. They can tell you what’s wrong. And – everything we did with our daughter was a first. Her first tooth fairy. Santa. – Nia Vardalos
I never card out a movie. You know how people will outline or card? I don’t do that. I tend to start with an idea and go. – Nia Vardalos
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. – Nia Vardalos
I have no idea how to use social media for anything other than forwarding a good fart joke. – Nia Vardalos
There’s a feeling sometimes in motherhood that you’re alone in what you’re going through, and none of us are alone. We’re all going through the same thing. – Nia Vardalos
And (cue music swell) motherhood turned out to be the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done with my life. Really. – Nia Vardalos
I think it’s probably a universal experience that all parents think they’re not hovering, but perhaps we all are. – Nia Vardalos
You only get one life so you might as well make it a happy one, and that’s why I tend to just jump into things. I’m sort of a fearless idiot that way. – Nia Vardalos
We absolutely have to support our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. We just must. It’s not fair that they don’t get to live an authentic life. – Nia Vardalos
The media was always so focused on the money a movie makes. But I was in Times Square, and a bunch of Japanese tourists looked at me and started shouting, ‘Toula!’ I loved it. It’s these tiny moments of connection that register with me the most and always have. – Nia Vardalos
I’ve had designers say to my face, ‘Oh, I want to dress you now that you’re skinny.’ And that’s really rude. – Nia Vardalos
The white hot publicity that came from ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ was appreciated but not sought, so I was happy to walk away from it and then write. – Nia Vardalos
It was a sad process for me to become a mom, and a long process. I felt so embarrassed that I couldn’t have a biological child. – Nia Vardalos
What I wish I had, is that I wish I was a little more Greek, in that I wish I could lose my North American driven attitude and that I could be a little bit more poetic and laissez faire. – Nia Vardalos
Our daughter was not damaged or hurt in any way. She was simply relinquished to foster care by two people who were not ready to be parents. I admire them for giving her the chance for a better life. And I am grateful they gave my husband and me the opportunity to be parents. – Nia Vardalos
I was in a fertility situation publicly, so I disappeared. I was very satisfied just being to able to creatively express myself with writing. The white hot publicity that came from ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ was appreciated but not sought, so I was happy to walk away from it and then write. – Nia Vardalos
I had worked for ten years in theater; I had worked at Second City in Chicago. Then I got to Hollywood, and I was like, naively, ‘Where’s my pilot?’ – Nia Vardalos