Gia Carides (born 7 June 1964) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

actress. She portrayed Liz Holt in ''

Strictly Ballroom ''Strictly Ballroom'' is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann in his feature directorial debut. The film is the first in his "Red Curtain Trilogy" of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by 1996 ...

'', Susy Connor in ''

Brilliant Lies ''Brilliant Lies'' is a 1996 Australian drama (film and television), drama film produced by Bayside Pictures and Beyond Films. It stars Gia Carides and Anthony LaPaglia. It was directed by Richard Franklin (director), Richard Franklin and produce ...

'', and Cousin Nikki in ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos, who also stars in the film as Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos, a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with White Anglo-Saxo ...

.''

Early life

Carides was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia, to a Greek father and an English mother. Gia is sister to

Zoe Carides Zoe Carides (born 19 February 1962) is an Australian actress of film and television, who is best known for her roles in '' Death in Brunswick'' as Sophie, ''G. P.'' as Dr. Sonia Kapek and ''Grass Roots'' as Liz Murray. Family Carides was born ...

, also an actress, and Danielle Carides, a singer songwriter. She began acting at the age of 12; her first film was the drama ''

The Love Letters from Teralba Road ''The Love Letters from Teralba Road'' is a 1977 Australian short film directed by Stephen Wallace. In 1980 David Stratton called it "not only the most moving love story given to us by the Australian cinema, but also probably the best featurette ...

.''

Career

Early in her career, Carides starred as Helena Angelopolous on the Australian television series ''

Police Rescue ''Police Rescue'' is an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by ABC and Southern Star Xanadu in association with the BBC. Apart from the 61 episodes, there was a 90-minute pilo ...

'', also receiving acclaim for her films ''

'' and ''

'', with

AFI Award The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...

nominations for each. She is also known for her roles as Robin Swallows (née Spitz) in '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' and as Cousin Nikki in ''

'', the sequel television show ''

My Big Fat Greek Life ''My Big Fat Greek Life'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on CBS from February 24 to April 13, 2003. The series is a continuation of the 2002 movie ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and To ...

'', and the sequel film ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by Kirk Jones and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine (in his final film role), Andrea Martin, Ian Gomez ...

''. Carides works in both America and Australia, recognised for a host of film and television credits including ''Primary Colors'', '' Year One'' and ''

East of Everything ''East of Everything'' is an Australian drama television drama series set in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales which screened in 2008-2009 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television network. It was produced by Deb ...

''. She also appeared in a guest spot on husband Anthony LaPaglia's television series ''

Without A Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

''. She has volunteered as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program.

Personal life

Carides was married to actor

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

, whom she met in

in 1992. A year later they starred together in the film ''Paperback Romance'' (a.k.a. ''Lucky Break''). She and LaPaglia are the parents of daughter Bridget, born in January 2003. In April 2015, newspapers reported that LaPaglia and Carides had split after 17 years.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Gia Carides
�� Australian Film Commission

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carides, Gia 1964 births Actresses from Sydney Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Australian people of English descent Australian people of Greek descent Living people 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses Association footballers' wives and girlfriends