In the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Fotoula Toula Portokalos is a 30-year-old unmarried waitress working at her father's Greek restaurant, Dancing Zorba's. She is a member of a large, loud, intrusive Greek family that wants her to get married and have children. Toula, however, longs to do something more with her life. One day, while working at the restaurant, she meets a school teacher named Ian Miller, and they fall in love. The film follows Toula as she navigates her relationship with Ian, who is not Greek, and her family's acceptance of their relationship.
Characteristics | Values |
---|---|
Name | Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos |
Age | 30 |
Family | Large, loud, intrusive Greek family |
Marital Status | Single |
Profession | Hostess at her family's restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's" |
Residence | Chicago |
Interests | Her new job at her aunt's travel agency, and Ian Miller |
Relationship Status | Falls in love with Ian Miller, a non-Greek school teacher |
Challenge | Integrating her WASP boyfriend into her crazy family |
What You'll Learn
Toula is 30 years old
Thirty-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos is a member of a large, loud, intrusive Greek family that only wants her to get married and have children. Toula works in her family's Chicago restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's", but longs to do something more with her life. She is embarrassed that her whole family pities her for being single, so she decides to take matters into her own hands.
Toula convinces her reluctant father to let her take computer classes at a local college. Using what she's learned, she starts working for her Aunt Voula's travel agency. Her passion for her new job and her newfound pride in her appearance give Toula a sense of confidence and optimism. While still working at Zorba's, she develops a crush on a school teacher named Ian Miller, who comes into the restaurant. That evening, Toula tells her parents that she wants to go to college to learn about computers, but her father Gus becomes emotional, claiming she wants to leave him.
As the weeks pass, Toula gains more confidence and changes her image, switching her thick-framed glasses for contact lenses, styling her hair, and wearing makeup and brighter clothes that show off her figure. She sees a notice for a course on computers and tourism and tells her Aunt Voula that she could apply what she learns to Voula's travel agency business. She agrees, and she and Toula's mother Maria convince Gus to agree as well.
Toula's happiness working at the travel agency catches Ian's attention, and he asks her to dinner. On their date, Toula confesses that her family owns Dancing Zorba's, and he recognises her. Contrary to Toula's fears, Ian reaffirms his fondness for her. They continue dating and fall in love. Knowing her family would not approve of her dating a non-Greek, Toula lies that she is taking a pottery class to see Ian. However, her lie is exposed when a family friend sees them kissing in a parking lot.
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She works at her family's restaurant
In the 2002 romantic comedy film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", thirty-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos works at her family's restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's", in Chicago. She is a member of a large, loud, and intrusive Greek family that only wants her to get married and have children. Toula is frumpy and meek, and longs to do something more with her life. She wants to make a life for herself away from the family business.
While working at the restaurant one day, a school teacher named Ian Miller comes in, and Toula develops a crush on him. She decides to take matters into her own hands and make a change in her life. That evening, she tells her parents that she wants to go to college to learn about computers, but her father Gus becomes emotional, claiming that Toula wants to leave him. Her mother Maria comforts her and convinces Gus to agree to Toula's idea.
As the weeks pass, Toula gains more confidence and changes her image. She switches her thick-framed glasses for contact lenses, starts styling her hair, and wears makeup and brighter clothes that show off her figure. She sees a notice for a course on computers and tourism and decides to take it. She tells her Aunt Voula, who owns a travel agency, that she could apply what she learns in the course to Voula's business. Voula agrees, and she and Maria convince Gus to let Toula take the course.
Toula starts working for her Aunt Voula's travel agency and her passion for her new job, along with her newfound pride in her appearance, gives her a sense of confidence and optimism. Her happiness working at the travel agency catches Ian's attention and he asks her to dinner. On their date, Toula confesses that her family owns Dancing Zorba's, and he recognizes her. Contrary to Toula's fear that he would lose interest in her, Ian reaffirms his fondness for her, and they continue dating and fall in love.
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She falls for a non-Greek man
In the 2002 romantic comedy film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", thirty-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos falls in love with Ian Miller, a school teacher who is not Greek. Toula is a member of a large, loud, intrusive Greek family that only wants her to get married and have children. She works in her family's Chicago restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's", but longs to do something more with her life.
One day, while working at the restaurant, Toula meets Ian Miller, a school teacher, and develops a crush on him. She eventually gains the confidence to change her image, styling her hair and wearing makeup and brighter clothes. Her newfound confidence catches Ian's attention, and he asks her to dinner. On their date, Toula confesses that her family owns Dancing Zorba's, and Ian recognises her. They continue dating and fall in love.
Knowing that her family would not approve of her dating a non-Greek, Toula lies about taking a pottery class to see Ian. However, her lie is exposed when a family friend sees them kissing in a parking lot. Her father, Gus, forbids them from continuing to see each other because Ian is not Greek. Despite this, Toula and Ian continue dating, and Ian eventually proposes.
Toula's family eventually accepts Ian, but they constantly insert themselves into the wedding planning, designing ugly bridesmaid dresses and misspelling Ian's mother's name on the wedding invitations. At the wedding reception, Gus gives a heartfelt speech, welcoming Ian into the family and giving Toula and Ian a house as a wedding gift.
Six years later, Toula and Ian are living next door to Gus and Maria, and they have a daughter whom they are raising in the Greek culture.
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Her family struggles to accept him
In the 2002 romantic comedy film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", 30-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos falls in love with Ian Miller, a school teacher. Toula is a member of a large, loud, intrusive Greek family that wants her to get married and have children. However, Toula longs to do something more with her life beyond working at her family's restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's".
Toula's family struggles to accept Ian because he is not Greek. Her father, Gus, is furious that Ian did not ask his permission to date Toula, despite them being adults. Gus forbids them from continuing to see each other and even introduces Toula to single Greek men, but she continues dating Ian.
To get the family to accept him, Ian agrees to be baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church. The Portokalos family eventually accepts Ian but constantly involves themselves in the wedding planning, designing ugly bridesmaid dresses and misspelling Ian's mother's name on the wedding invitations. During a loud and extravagant Greek family dinner, Ian's quiet, conservative parents meet the entire family, overwhelming Gus.
At the wedding reception, Gus gives a heartfelt speech, focusing on how the differences in the newlyweds' backgrounds do not matter. He surprises Toula and Ian with a house as a wedding gift, showing that despite the family's quirks and dramatic nature, they love Toula and will always be there for her.
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She reinvents herself
In the 2002 romantic comedy film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", 30-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos is a frumpy and meek member of a large, loud, intrusive Greek family that only wants her to get married and have children. She works in her family's Chicago restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's", but longs to do something more with her life.
Toula decides to take matters into her own hands and reinvents herself. She convinces her reluctant father to let her take computer classes at a local college. She switches her thick-framed glasses for contact lenses, styles her hair, and wears makeup and brighter clothes that show off her figure. She then starts working for her Aunt Voula's travel agency, where her passion for her new job and her newfound pride in her appearance give her a sense of confidence and optimism.
Toula's happiness working at the travel agency catches the attention of a school teacher named Ian Miller, and they begin dating. Despite facing challenges due to their cultural differences, Toula and Ian fall in love and get engaged. Ultimately, Toula successfully reinvents herself, gaining more confidence and a new sense of optimism in her life.
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Frequently asked questions
Toula is 30 years old in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
No, Toula is single at the start of the film and is the only woman in her family who has failed to find a nice Greek husband and have babies.
Yes, Toula falls in love with a non-Greek man named Ian Miller, a school teacher.
Initially, Toula's family is wary of Ian because he is not Greek. However, they eventually learn to accept him.