Greeks in Australia

As a kid growing up in Melbourne, Louis Mandylor quickly learned one thing about the city’s tight-knit Greek community: it was impossible to keep anything a secret. “Everyone knew everyone else and they all talked,” he says. “I’d show up for soccer practice and my coaches would know everything I had done the night before.” 

Mandylor, a professional soccer player turned actor who played Nick Portokalos in the 2002 blockbuster hit, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” is one of the 300,000 Greek-Australians who call Victoria’s state capital their hometown. It is the largest Greek population outside of Europe. And while Athens may be thousands of miles away, its culture is alive and well here in Australia’s second-largest city.