1. Nia Vardalos & Christina Eleusiniotis As Toula Portokalos - My Big Fat Greek Wedding
When I was originally compiling this list, I had a few other pairings to choose from. Then this movie hit me, like a book to the back of the head. I couldn't believe I had forgotten how damn alike Toula at 6 looked to Toula present day. For those of you who haven't seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which has to be a near impossibility today, I weep for you. This movie, which was originally released and taken out of theaters after a week or two, was an overnight success of a romantic comedy - emphasis on comedy. Now, the make-up and costume designers really made Nia Vardalos look disgusting in the first half of this film. Frumpy was the word they chose and down-right awful is the truth. I believe my own mother chose the word "unfortunate". It's not the best feeling in the world to portray a gross looking woman as a child, I'm sure. Not like portraying a young Mark Wahlberg, at least. However, little Christina Eleusiniotis was up for the challenge. Though she hasn't been in any movies since, Eleusiniotis was the perfect match for Vardalos. Thanks to the support and work of the film's design crew, it felt as though we were watching real home movies of young Toula Portokalos at Greek school, at the kitchen table, getting bullied by the pretty girls she knew she'd never be. Her mannerisms were similar, her efforts were similiar, and, of course, those Greek features were spot on. I don't think there will ever be a pairing (outside of the Culkin family) as spot on as Vardalos and Eleusiniotis. I believe this match was so perfect because the two actresses weren't. Casting directors weren't trying to match a child to the perfectly sculpted face of any Hollywood star. They were matching a child to an average woman, before make up, before hair styling, before the glitz and glam of celebrity make a permanent mark on Vardalos' exterior, which it still, to this day, has not. A very compelling match up, indeed.