How did you get cast in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"?

Nia Vardalos, who wrote the script and plays the lead, had seen me in Sex and the City. My agent sent me the script and I read it, but when Nia and the producers called to meet me they were told I was out the country, working on another movie. They went to Toronto where, unbeknown to them, I was filming "Serendipity". It was the night before I was due to fly home, I walked into the hotel bar and someone asked me what I was doing next. I said I'd read this great script called "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", and Nia was there in the bar and overheard this. She introduced herself, and honestly, ten minutes later they offered me the role.

The film is the surprise hit of the summer in the States. What did you think of it when you read it.

I thought it was a wonderful fairy tale, that just happens to have real events in it. The best description I've read is that it's "Moonstruck" meets "Cinderella".

Have you ever encountered such a large and daunting family in your own dating life?

I suppose it's true, when you marry someone you really do marry their whole family. I got a sense of that the first time I went to Nia's house, right before the premiere of the film in Los Angeles. She threw a barbecue for her extended family, and it was awesome to walk in the backyard, it was just like a scene from the movie.