LOS ANGELES?After the surprisingly huge success of her ?My Big Fat Greek Wedding,? which she wrote originally as a play, Nia Vardalos herself admitted that she lost her mojo or kefi, Greek for exuberance. In the following excerpts, the actress spoke about how she got her mojo back and much more, including getting her most fervent wish?a child she adopted in 2008.

The actress, who is married to actor Ian Gomez, has two new movies: ?My Life in Ruins,? about a Greek-American tour guide who has lost her kefi, and ?I Hate Valentine?s Day,? which reunites her with ?Greek Wedding? leading man, John Corbett, and marks her directing debut. Excerpts:

Everybody thought you?d come up with a sequel to ?My Big Fat Greek Wedding.? In the meantime, you have this movie, ?My Life in Ruins.? How did this come about?

I have an idea for the sequel, but the characters need to be a little older for it. Mike Reiss wrote the first draft of this movie?s script. When it was sent to me, I thought this would satisfy my desire to do another Greek movie. Not to compare myself in any way, but like how Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese could explore their heritage, I?d like to explore mine, as well, so it really satisfied me that I thought I could go to Greece. I could play a role I didn?t write, which would be very beneficial for me to grow as an actress?and to be on camera again.

What exactly is kefi?

This movie is about losing your spark?or kefi?and finding it again. I was layering that into the script, because I?m publicly acknowledging that the reason I stepped away from being on camera is because, in 2004, I came to the end of a 10-year infertility battle. It?s like a punch in the forehead from Mother Nature, saying, ?That?s it! You need to throw in the towel.?

I chose to step away from acting and grieve very privately and quietly. I?m publicly acknowledging it now to explain where I?ve been. However, I know why it happened to me. I?m supposed to be using my big mouth to talk about the American Foster Adopt, which is how my daughter came to live with us. She walked in our door and she was 3 years old and the most perfect being. She?s turned our house into a home, so I found my mojo again.

Permission

The interesting thing about what happened was, in about one year, this movie got permission to shoot in the Acropolis (a first). I got to write and direct my next film and act with John Corbett again. I?m a mom, so I highly recommend losing your kefi (laughing) and finding it again. You come out of it a little refreshed.

Talk about this happy ending of having your daughter. How has motherhood changed you?

I might have built it up a little bit, and it?s still even better than I expected. She?s a joy. I hear things I normally wouldn?t hear. I?m in the middle of explaining something to her, and she?ll go, ?Listen, listen,? and sure enough, bluebirds are chirping. She has taught me to slow down, to take the time to enjoy every single day. It?s the best thing that ever happened to me.

You?re looking good. Is this also part of getting your mojo back?

It is. When I decided to go back on camera, it coincided with dizzy spells. You can understand after the 10-year infertility battle why I have not gone to a doctor after three years of hiding in my office and writing. I finally went back and said, ?I don?t feel good.? I had a blood sugar problem, so I had to be responsible and reduce my weight. The doctor suggested that maybe I should hire a trainer or a nutritionist. I laughed because I am from Winnipeg, and we just don?t do that.

So, instead, I wrote down everything I ate for a week and what kept popping out was cheese, so I took that out and started walking, which was really helpful. We adopted a dog from a pound, and he and I healed each other. We walked and walked, and it helped open my brain, and this movie happened, so I wanted the story to be clear that I didn?t succumb to Hollywood pressure. If I do look better today, it?s because three people got me to look like this today.

Is your other new movie, with John Corbett, not a sequel to ?My Big Fat Greek Wedding??

No. I asked John to be in it with me because when I was offered the opportunity to direct it, I was given 18 days to shoot, and the budget was what I say, 50 million Rupees. It was tiny, so I thought, ?How am I going to do this?? I had to be in it because of the financing, so I thought of asking John, because we have shorthand. We understand each other. I knew he would never be a diva on the set. We shot it in 18 days, and I did it because I wanted to present a calling card as a director. I?d like to see what I can do with a real budget.

You have two new movies in a row.

That?s what I mean when I say that I highly recommend losing your mojo (laughing)

Heritage

How did your husband, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, adjust to your big Greek family?

My husband is the ultimate man in the sense that the tree that bends is stronger than the tree that breaks. He bent to my culture and has retained his masculinity. He is his character. He?s stronger than the man I met, because I always say he?s a sexy Latino man (laughter).

Where does kefi come from?

There?s a feeling, a kefi, a spirit in Greece, where if someone says, ?Ah, there are cobwebs in this light fixture,? someone will go, ?No. It?s good luck.? We are the ultimate optimists. We ruined everything. Maybe it?s from the years of being invaded. Maybe it?s what you have to do?and you have to laugh about it. There?s a spirit and a feeling in Greece that I admire, and I seem to be drawn toward it, because my mom raised me to be an optimist.

Even during the period when I was pursuing being a mother and staying out of acting, a small part of me knew it would work. I knew I had a plan, and God had a plan, and my plan didn?t count. The way I became a mother was not the conventional way, but it?s no less the best thing that could have ever happened to me!

E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com, and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.