Nia Vardalos at 'My Life in Ruins' Los Angeles premiere held at 20th Century Fox Zanuck Theatre. Los Angeles, California - 29.05.09
The My Big Fat Greek Wedding star is tired of Tinseltown's double standards when it comes to pairing up stars for movie love stories - because older women can't get away with dating hunks, while ageing actors regularly romance hotties.
And she's had enough of the questions about her own onscreen match-ups with the likes of John Corbett and My Life In Ruins co-star Alexis Georgoulis.
She tells CNN, "On the publicity tour of My Big Fat Greek Wedding I was asked over and over again, if, as the writer, I felt it was a fair depiction of real life to have someone of my below average looks, hook up with hottie John Corbett.
"I thought I was attractive when I shot My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Studio executives and movie reviewers let me know I had a confidence in my looks that was not shared by them. In other words, they labelled me with words like, overweight, unattractive, unappealing. Hey, just say fat. I love the word fat. I used it in the title. It's actually not a naughty word.
"I have sat through many a movie like Sideways, where nobody blinks an eye when Paul Giamatti gets together with gorgeous Virginia Madsen, and Knocked Up. I mean the visual of Seth Rogen on top of Katherine Heigl made me put the popcorn down and reach for my purse... because I knew the film was about to stop and Ashton Kutcher would now jump out and go, 'Aha, you've been punked.' I waited, but no Ashton.
"Socially, the issue of men's weight is simply not a big deal. Let's face it, Russell Crowe is fat and no one ever talks about it. Alec Baldwin just orders his suits a size bigger and we continue to swoon.
"Meanwhile, I get hit with this awkward question about my weightloss daily and I have answered it in press interviews, at the grocery store, at the newspaper stand. Why? Because I see their (people) anxious, open faces needing the secret, the new pill, the cure, anything: 'Just please share the secret'. So I hesitantly answer and I am always met with the same response: the glaze-eye, slack-jawed face.
"They don't want to hear the truth - I had a blood sugar problem, so my doctor ordered me to lose weight. It was really hard but I did it through diet and exercise, and it took a year."
Source: WENN