Nia Vardalos Announces She's Directing 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,' Filming in Greece Begins

The Portokalos' are back for the next installment in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding saga. The film's star, Nia Vardalos took to Instagram to confirm the news after photos of the cast began circulating online.

"I have an announcement," Vardalos began in the video shared to her feed Tuesday. "We are in Greece, filming My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, and thank you so much for the lovely messages of just waiting and everything. I'm in a little room, getting ready to go down and film."

Vardalos then gave fans a look at the film's Athens location before revealing that she's not only starring in the film, she's also directing My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.

"I'll show you a part of it. We're filming in the beautiful Plaka of Athens," the 59-year-old actress shared. "Oh, I want to teach you your first Greek word, which is e-ski̱nothéti̱s, and what that means is director. And guess who the director is? Me!"

Vardalos thanked her producers in the caption as well as fans for their support as they waited to film the third chapter in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding series.

"Thank you to Playtone, Gold Circle, HBO and Focus! And much love and gratitude to you all for your support as we waited to film. Greece baby. Greece! 🇬🇷 🎥 #Mybigfatgreekwedding3," she captioned the clip.

Vardalos, who also serves as a screenwriter on the project, shared in September that she completed the script for the upcoming comedy. Vardalos posted a photo with co-stars Lainie Kazan, Louis Mandylor and Gia Carides, and shared that the film is dedicated to the late Michael Constantine, the actor who portrayed her father, Gus.

"Friends in real life are why our films are so much fun to make," Vardalos wrote, adding that the four of them "gathered to honor the memory of Michael Constantine, may he rest in peace."

"He had told me he wouldn’t be able to join us for the third film and his wish was that we go on. I wrote the screenplay to reflect Michael’s decision and will always treasure his last messages to me, hoping we were filming soon," she continued, explaining that the various COVID-19 variants "have made indies difficult, but we are hopeful."

Jokingly writing to stop calling her mom to ask her to be in the third film or sharing their plot ideas, she confirmed, "the script is finished. ✏️ (And no Toula and Ian are not grandparents!)."

"We miss you Michael, thank you for bringing my words to life with such passion and accuracy, you will always be with us. ❤️," she concluded.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding hit theaters in 2002 and followed Toula played by Vardalos, a 30-year-old Greek woman living in Chicago who marries a non-Greek man, Ian, played by John Corbett, amid her family’s objections. The family comedy was a hit, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 2003.

In 2016, the sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, was released, which saw Toula and Ian navigate their marriage and life with a rebellious teenage daughter who clashes with Greek traditions. The franchise also saw the short-lived CBS series, My Big Fat Greek Life, which starred Vardalos, Constantine, Kazan and more of the first film's cast.

For more on My Big Fat Greek Wedding see the video below.

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