Gia Carides

Gia Carides was born in Sydney, New South Wales on June 7, 1964, to an English mother and a Greek Father. She has two sisters, Danielle Carides, a singer-songwriter, and Zoe Carides, who is also an actress. During her early days, Gia went to Chatswood High School for her education.

She met actor Anthony LaPaglia in Sydney in 1992. After dating for a few years, the couple got married on 11 September 1998 and welcomed their first daughter Bridget in January 2003. The couple got divorced on June 15, 2016, ending an 18-year-long marriage.

Gia Carides started working as an actress in theaters and films at an early age. She became serious about acting when she was just a little girl and made her acting debut at the age of 12. Her first ever professional role in films came in 1977 in the film ‘The Love Letters from Teralba Road.’ But she had to wait for around five years to get the second chance. In 1983, she got to work in two films, ‘Midnite Spares’ as ‘Ruth Mintos’ and ‘Phar Lap’ as ‘Emma Woodcock,’ and the television series ‘A Country Practice’ as ‘Tracy Power’.

She later appeared in several films and television shows including ‘Bliss’, ‘Backlash’, ‘Studio 86’, ‘Inside Running’, ‘Boys from the Bush’, ‘Acropolis Now', and ‘Greenkeeping’. In 1992, she got her big break and appeared in the Australian romantic comedy film ‘Strictly Ballroom’, and also signed up for the character of ‘Helena Angelopoulos’ in the television series ‘Police Rescue’. For her work in ‘Strictly Ballroom’, she earned a nomination for the ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ at the AFI Awards.

In 1996, she appeared in the Australian drama film ‘Brilliant Lies’ as ‘Susy Connor’ and was critically praised for her work in the film. She received a ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ nomination at the ‘AFI Awards’ and was lauded for her performance. In the next two decades, Gia appeared in several Hollywood as well as Australian films besides making important appearances on various television shows, either as a guest or as second-lead roles.

Gia Carides made appearances in the American spy action comedy film ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’ as ‘Robin Spitz’ and later appeared in Joel Zwick’s Canadian-American romantic comedy film ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ as ‘Cousin Nikki’. She also appeared on the sequel of the movie, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,’ as the same character. Over the years, Gia has continued working both in Australian and American films and has also appeared in her husband Anthony LaPaglia's television series ‘Without A Trace’ as a guest.