Gia Carides
Gia Carides and Anthony LaPaglia in 2013.
Born	7 June 1964 (age 56) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Education	Riverside Girls High Chatswood High School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Anthony LaPaglia ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 2015)​
Children	1

Early life

Carides was born in Sydney, Australia, to a Greek father and an English mother.[1] Gia is sister to Zoe Carides, 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.[2]
Career

Early in her career, Carides starred as Helena Angelopolous on the Australian television series Police Rescue,[3] also receiving acclaim for her films Strictly Ballroom and Brilliant Lies, with AFI Award nominations for each.[4][2]

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 My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the sequel television show My Big Fat Greek Life, and the sequel film My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

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. She also appeared in a guest spot on husband Anthony LaPaglia's television series Without A Trace.

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

Carides was married to actor Anthony LaPaglia, whom she met in Sydney in 1992. A year later they starred together in the film Paperback Romance (a.k.a. Lucky Break).[1] 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.[5]
Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The Love Letters from Teralba Road	Maureen
1983	Midnite Spares	Ruth Mintos
1983	Phar Lap	Emma Woodcock	Credited as Georgia Carr
1984	Annie's Coming Out	Narrator
1985	The Coca-Cola Kid	Chambermaid
1985	Bliss	Lucy Joy
1987	Backlash	Nikki Iceton
1992	Greenkeeping	Gina
1992	Strictly Ballroom	Liz Holt
1992	The Girl Who Came Late	Wendy
1994	Paperback Romance	Sophie
1995	Bad Company	Julie Ames
1996	The Cottonwood	Kathy
1996	Two If by Sea	Joan Rappaport (uncredited)
1996	Brilliant Lies	Susy Connor
1997	Lifebreath	Gale Pullman
1998	Primary Colors	Cashmere McLeod
1998	Letters from a Killer	Lita
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	Robin Swallows
2000	The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave	Sandy	Video
2000	Maze	Julianne
2001	Jack the Dog	Georgia
2002	My Big Fat Greek Wedding	Cousin Nikki
2003	Exposed	Jade Blake
2005	One Last Thing...	Madelene
2006	Thank Heaven	Cybil
2006	Stick It	Alice Graham
2007	The Trap	Clara	Short film
2009	Year One	Queen
2011	In Loco Parentis	Mum	Short film
2011	Burning Man	Carol
2015	This Isn't Funny	Gillian Jones
2016	My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2	Cousin Nikki
2016	Joe Cinque's Consolation	Maria Cinque
2018	We Only Know So Much	Trudy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	A Country Practice	Tracy Power	Episode: "Hair of the Dog: Part 1" Episode: "Hair of the Dog: Part 2"
1984	Five Mile Creek	Beth	Episode: "Maggie"
1986	Studio 86		Episode: "Strawberry Girl" Episode: "Sisters in the Bathroom"
1989	Inside Running		TV series
1991	Boys from the Bush		Episode: "The Stuffed Platypus" Episode: "Poetic Galah"
1991	Acropolis Now	Haroula	Episode: "The Goddess"
1992	The Resting Place	Sally	TV short
1992	Ultraman: Towards the Future	Jean Echo	13 episodes
1992–1993	Police Rescue	Helena Angelopoulos	7 episodes
1993	Seven Deadly Sins	Gluttony	TV miniseries
1995	The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space	Vesper, Vox's High Priestess	TV movie
1997	ER	Suzanne Alner	Episode: "You Bet Your Life"
1997	Firehouse	Charlotte Brooks	TV movie
1997	The Devil's Child	Eva	TV movie
1999	A Secret Affair	Mimi	TV movie
2003	My Big Fat Greek Life	Nikki	7 episodes
2003	Gladius	Additional Voices	Video game
2005	Without a Trace	Stephanie Patterson	Episode: "4.0"
2008–2009	East of Everything	Melanie Freedman	10 episodes
2011	Small Time Gangster	Darlene	8 episodes
2017, 2019	Big Little Lies	Melissa	9 episodes
2017	Twin Peaks	Hannah	1 episode
2017	The Librarians	Lenore Jones	1 episode
2020	Filthy Rich	Veronica	6 episodes

References

Fischer, Paul (2002). "Gia Carides My Big Fat Greek Wedding". female.com.au. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
Moran, Albert; Keating, Chris (2009). The A to Z of Australian Radio and Television. Scarecrow Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-8108-7022-2.
Mapstone, Naomi (2 November 1992). "Police Rescue". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). Retrieved 23 November 2019.
"Strictly Ballroom wins at the 1992 AFI Awards". National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
"Anthony LaPaglia and Gia Carides split after 17 years of marriage: Who's Ant's mystery brunette?". The Daily Telegraph. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.

Links

Gia Carides at the Internet Movie Database