“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” actor Joey Fatone and actress Gia Carides give their thoughts on working with director Nia Vardacalos and talk about their excitement for the new film in their interview. Check it out.
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00:00 When we heard that number three was happening, I was deeply excited.
00:06 I didn't expect it, I really didn't. We sort of dreamed of it.
00:10 And the first two films we shot in beautiful Toronto,
00:13 and it was gorgeous, as Chicago, and we really had a great time.
00:18 We really explored Toronto and had a really good time.
00:21 It was a good bonding time. The first film was 22 years ago.
00:24 The second film was seven years ago.
00:26 So when we heard about this one, and there was a whisper on the ground
00:30 that it was going to be in Greece, it was ridiculously exciting.
00:34 I've only been to Greece a very small portion of the time,
00:40 back in the day, with NSYNC. It was in Crete, actually.
00:43 So we never got a chance to see any of it. I've never been to Mykonos.
00:45 I still haven't been there yet, but to be in Athens,
00:47 and then to be here in Corfu where we were shooting, is fricking awesome.
00:51 It was one of those things, because for me, when I was with the group,
00:53 it was like one or two days you're in and you're out.
00:55 Here I'm here for a couple of weeks.
00:57 So then it's first of getting adjusted to the time zone,
00:59 and then it was finally, all right, let's go to this beach,
01:02 let's check out this place, let's have a drink here,
01:04 let's find out just culture, let's just go see this,
01:07 let's go see the Poseidon's building of this and that.
01:09 It was just really, really cool just to be able to have the time to do that,
01:13 to be here in Greece.
01:15 We get to do all the really fun stuff.
01:19 Like suddenly we're on a travelogue of Greece,
01:21 doing everything fun that you could possibly want to do in Greece.
01:24 And there we are doing it together and having a ball,
01:27 because he's always cracking me up, making me laugh.
01:29 So to be here all together has been incredible.
01:35 It's like a reuniting of a true family,
01:37 and we have this added bonus of all these delicious new characters.
01:41 And the new actors that are in this movie are just, honestly, stars on the rise.
01:47 Like the young actors who have been cast in the roles of Christos,
01:52 Camar, and of course we have beautiful Elena Bach playing Paris,
01:56 and Elias playing Aristotle.
01:59 So we've just got a wealth of new characters.
02:02 Honestly, having Nia as the director, she always, to be honest,
02:10 always felt like the director to me,
02:12 because she was the one that wrote everything on paper.
02:16 She was the one that was her family, so we always went to her,
02:19 and kind of was like, "Hey, what do you feel, or what is this,
02:22 or what should I do, how should I do it?"
02:24 And that's kind of how it went about from one, two, and three.
02:28 That's the truth. I mean, the passion and the heart of this story,
02:31 coming from her and her true life,
02:34 it always informed everything that the past two directors,
02:38 you know, they guided beautiful films and films that were delightful to watch.
02:43 But Nia was truly the heart of it, and we did run everything by her,
02:48 and we wanted her input always.
02:50 And it was always fun to be in a scene with her,
02:53 and then she often would let us all run over and look at playback,
02:57 and that's a lot of fun, and do it again.
03:00 And having her actually sitting at that director's chair has been so exciting.
03:04 And I've been pulling my camera out all the time and taking pictures of it,
03:07 because I just feel like a proud cousin, sister, whatever.
03:11 It's just gorgeous watching her do it.
03:13 Agreed, agreed. Yeah, because she's doing all three acts.
03:16 She's writing, she's directing, and she's acting in it as well.
03:19 It's exciting.
03:20 So it's interesting when she's like, "All right, cut. Now I have to get into makeup. Bye."
03:23 And she goes off and then comes back.
03:25 So it's a lot of hard work, but for us, I think that's what's great about her,
03:29 and I think the reason why she did bring a lot of us and pretty much all of us back
03:32 was due to the fact that she trusts us.
03:35 She knows that we're going to handle the job and do what we need to do,
03:37 and she can worry about what she needs to do there on that side.
03:40 It's almost like, "All right, yep, cool, great, I love it. All right, perfect, let's go."
03:44 It's been kind of interesting because of the fact that, as you know,
03:47 that Michael Constantine passed away, who played Gus, who played our uncle, basically.
03:52 And it was one of the things, because I remember that they were even talking about--
03:55 they had the script and everything was written, it was done, and we were ready to kind of go.
03:59 And obviously the pandemic hit and everything hit, and then he got very sick.
04:03 And I remember even her telling us that he's texting, even saying,
04:07 "You know what? Go do the film without me, blah, blah, blah, even if I'm not okay," kind of thing.
04:11 And sadly enough, he did pass, and we were like, "Okay, I guess we're not doing this.
04:15 This is not happening now."
04:17 And she found a way to pay an amazing homage to him, but also really open--
04:22 I think--I don't know, open up the Portacalas family a lot more.
04:25 Yeah.
04:26 You get to see them a lot more.
04:27 And to write such an interesting twist of journey for him.
04:31 He's not in our film. He's in all of our hearts.
04:34 He's not physically there, but he's really present.
04:37 And because of the delicious twist in his life to give him that kind of exciting, unexpected background,
04:45 we all feel him, and even some people get to say, "There you go."
04:52 Like characters get to actually have lines.
04:55 So we feel his energy, and he's in the story.
04:58 And now it's on my leg.
05:00 Yeah. Oh, yes, Joey Fatone.
05:03 Okay, Joey has a brand-new tattoo.
05:05 It says, "There you go, Gus."
05:07 "There you go," Greek flag, and Gus.
05:10 You know, obviously it's part of me. These movies were all a part of me.
05:14 And he just had that tattoo done in Corfu.
05:16 Yeah, like two days ago.
05:18 It's been pretty amazing, you know, the impact that the Portacalas family had on the world, I honestly would say.
05:27 I mean, it hit home to a lot of different countries, I think, just because you always have the loud uncles or the loud family,
05:33 you know, whatever wedding it may be, whether it be Italian, Greek, Irish, it doesn't matter.
05:39 We all have those families that we have that bond, and there's always whatever the tradition is.
05:43 It could be completely different or whatever religion, but it's always that same connection and bond with the family.
05:48 And that's kind of what comes through.
05:50 And I've had people come up to me from Italian background, Indian, everything, and say,
05:54 "I don't care what that is, that it's Greek. That's my family."
05:57 And they're Pakistani, they're French, they're Jewish, and they relate completely to it.
06:03 For me, I always wanted to be an actor, but I was with a group, NSYNC, and to be able to audition and be a part of this,
06:11 you know, kind of thrown in.
06:13 You'd gone into play to talk to Gary about music projects.
06:15 Yeah, I was just talking about some other stuff with NSYNC, and they happened to be like,
06:18 "Well, there's an audition for a movie, you might be perfect for it, because they just need you for a couple of days,
06:22 but also, you look Greek."
06:24 So I went in, I read the thing, and they're like, "We'll let you know in a couple of weeks."
06:28 And they called me back, and I was like, "Oh my gosh!"
06:30 So, you know, coming there and into Toronto and meeting Gia and Nia and everybody,
06:35 it was one of those things where, "Here's your family, let's act, let's perform."
06:41 And then as you start acting, you start performing and hanging out and spending time,
06:45 and then again, 20 years, 22 years later, we're still here, you know, the third one.
06:52 You know what's really cool about the third one? I think it's now that perfect timing.
06:56 Oh my God.
06:57 Everybody needs this kind of film.
06:58 The world has been a little sad the last few years.
07:00 I mean, there's always a lot of heavy stuff going on in the world,
07:03 but it's ready for another My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
07:06 It just really is.
07:08 I love for audiences in this film that it's dealing with acceptance
07:17 and actually being on your own journey.
07:21 Even though there's a wedding, and even though each of the films has had a wedding,
07:26 this one for me is really about a solo journey, but in the most joyous way.
07:35 You know, Gus is gone, Maria is now on her own,
07:39 Nia's character Tula is on her own journey for her father,
07:44 and it's just we meet the new character, Victory, who's incredible,
07:49 and Alexandra has raised that boy alone.
07:53 It's really about solo journeys, but uniting of a whole village.
07:58 It's a very strong film. It made me cry my eyes out, this film.
08:04 I don't know if I'm more emotional at my age now than I was 22 years ago.
08:09 I cry when I read a Hallmark card, so yeah.
08:11 Yeah, it really touched me, this one. It really touched me.
08:15 It's extraordinarily deep.
08:17 It's exciting because you're also getting to see into the Portakalos family.
08:20 Like you said, we're actually going to roots now.
08:22 We're going to their hometown, their land.
08:24 Yeah, we're going back. We're going back.
08:26 So I think that's what's really cool, to get a chance to now see the culture of,
08:30 obviously of Greece, and the culture of what they have to offer and everything.
08:34 So it's really cool.
08:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]