After almost 15 years, they’re still a phenomenon. The original cast of 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Nia Vardalos and John Corbett (as Toula Portokalos-Miller and Ian Miller) – are back basking in the glory of their most anticipated sequel.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 earned even beyond $18 million in the US box office over the Easter weekend, placing second to Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. This makes it the highest grossing romantic comedy this season.
Thanks to one emotional incident Vardalos had when her own daughter first went to kindergarten, the idea for the sequel was born. Laughing, she shares, “I was crying so hard at the idea of my daughter starting school. Another mom, I think in an effort to calm me, said: ‘In 13 years, they’ll go off to college and move away from home. I was struck by such panic and fear at the thought of my daughter leaving me that I realized I had morphed into my own overbearing, bordering-on-suffocating, Greek parents.”
So she began writing the script, bearing in mind that the original cast should be on board. Over the years, everyone has remained in contact, but they hadn’t all been in the same room since they finished their first film. Amazingly, according to Joey Fatone who plays Cousin Angelo, as soon as production of the sequel started, they “jumped right in as if no time had passed.”
The table read on May 7, 2015, was an emotional day; the cast arrived, hugged and cried happy tears. Michael Constantine, who plays Toula’s father Gus Portokalos, recalls, “It was wonderful being together again working on a film filled with love. It was a big family reunion.”
John Corbett claims to be the happiest about this reunion, and reveals how the first film affected his career. “Nobody on this team was happier than me. When I first read the script, I called Nia to say it was a masterpiece. After My Big Fat Greek Wedding was such a success, countless people of all ethnicities would come up to me and tell me the film was something their family could relate to.”
The things that Ian and Toula go through are indeed relatable. In the beginning, they struggled to have their relationship accepted by Toula’s family who wanted her to marry someone who is Greek like them. Toula also worked hard at proving to her over-protective father that she can be trusted to make her own decisions and use her skills to work some place else other than their family restaurant.
This time, Toula and Ian have a teenage daughter named Paris (played by Elena Kampouris), and they wonder if they should just let her make her own choices (e.g. which college to go to) or have her follow their traditions and their expectations. Aside from this, the couple also has to deal with keeping the fire in their marriage while making themselves available to Toula’s aging parents.
Being the new addition to this one big happy family, Elena remarks, “It was special for me—being that I am Greek—to work with such a close-knit cast, and they welcomed me with open arms.” On the cultural traditions of the story, Kampouris says, “Nia has been able to show how Greek parents influence us. They tend to put a lot of pressure on their kids as they are growing up, and they make sure their Greek roots and traditions are instilled in them. As she deals with that, Paris is trying to find herself and her own identity.”
Toula’s parents, Gus and Maria (played by Lainie Kazan), are also asking themselves the same question that every couple faces: Where did the romance go? Maria hopes to find that spark again for her relationship, especially after learning that their wedding license was not signed by the priest. That is a big shocker for the whole Portokalos clan, and they all come together to make sure that the elder couple ties the knot for real.
Director Kirk Jones says, “This time out, the film is about three generations of relationships, and it’s saying that if you enter into a relationship, you can never take it for granted. Remember, wherever there is drama, there is comedy as well.”
Of course, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 won’t be complete without the hilariously blunt Aunt Voula (played by Andrea Martin), who plays a big part in nudging Ian and Toula into reconnecting. Vardalos admits that she based the character on some of her own relatives “whose philosophy is a satin-red nightgown will solve any problem you could possibly have in your relationship.”
The entire cast and crew of this blockbuster film always focused on one truism that audiences have embraced and championed since the first film: At the end of the day, what matters most is family.
Vardalos concludes, “What surprises me over and over again is how everyone sees their family in this one. The ethnicity doesn’t matter; they’re not relating necessarily to a Greek family, they’re relating to their family. It was a happy accident. I was writing about mine, and I found out I was writing about theirs, too.”
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is making thousands laugh hard and love more, and you are invited to experience it too. Catch it in theaters nationwide starting April 13. Presented by Viva International Pictures and MVP Entertainment.