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CHARACTER CHECKLIST: ALEXANDROS “ALEXI” FLORADIS

DOB: August 14th, 1966, Kardamyla Chios, Greece

Physical Appearance: I’m not gonna lie appearance-wise. Nick Portokalos from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” was the first person I thought of. Of course, since Nick is a bit older than Alexi, I would argue that Alexi looks like a younger version of him. He also has brown eyes instead of blue eyes and stands taller at 6′0 tall. Their hairstyles are the same.

Backstory: Alexi was born in Greece but brought up in America. Like Kat, he grew speaking Greek in the house and learned English in school. Perhaps because he was slightly younger than Kat, he adjusted to learning English slightly quicker. Similar to Yianni, Alexi was a pudgy kid who grew up to be slim, and handsome as he got older. Growing up surrounded by the restaurant business, Alexi learned to love it. He has been working in the Kitchen since he was 14.

Present circumstances: Alexi still lives at home. He and Nick have the two downstairs bedroom’s while Kat sleeps in the Loft. Because Nick works double shifts seven days a week. He usually is rarely home or seen at the apartment. Despite living in such close proximity to his father, Alexi and Nick are not very close. Their relationship always has been Alexi trying to impress his father. They really cannot hold a normal conversation about anything other than work which is really sad. This emotionally bothers Alexi. He gets more and more jealous of Yianni Makris who has become somewhat of a best friend to Nick. He considers Yianni to be a pompous rich asshole, who flaunts his expensive designer suits. One of the joys he gets out of his day is playfully joking and talking with Maxine who he is quite smitten with. Despite her being three years older, he has always had a massive crush on her. But now that Alexi is older the crush seems mutual. Really excited to take their relationship further when writing future episodes.

Values, attitudes, beliefs: I would say Alexi and respectable and traditional in terms of his values. He is obviously going to be an overprotective brother to Kat but he still understands her wants and desires and is quite supportive of them. Alexi definitely harbors the New Yorker, “say like it is” attitude. He is not afraid to speak his mind if he doesn’t like something or someone. He makes it blatantly obvious that he doesn’t like Yianni. He think’s he’s a jerk. Although his jealousy of Yianni more so stems from the fact that Yianni has established a seemingly close relationship with his father, something he longs to have with Nick. 

Imperfections: Because Yianni doesn’t play a major role quite yet in the story it’s hard to tell what his contradictions or imperfections will be

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MEET NIKOS “NICK” FLORADIS: CHARACTER CHECKLIST

Physical Appearance

Unlike Gus Portokalos pictured above from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nick is younger and is 50 years-old 1988. Nick stands at 5′8 tall and has a lean build. He shockingly does not have any gray hair yet so his hair is still black, and short and all still there. Like his kids Kat and Alexi, he has natural olive skin.

Back Story

Nikos “Nick” Floradis was born on May 17th, 1938 in Afrodisia Chios, Greece to Katerina Nictas-Floradis, and Stamatis Floradis. Nick spent all his formative years in Greece. He went to school all through primary school but did not attend University in Europe. Instead, he worked with his father in the food market, selling fresh fish and vegetables. In addition to his Mother and Father, Nick had two younger sisters, Eleni and Sophia. It is his younger sister Sophia, born (1944), who introduced Nick to his wife, Theodora Bousalis.(also born 1944). Theodora always had a secret crush on Nick and one day his sister mentioned Theodora to Nick and that was the first time it really hit him that he may really like her. Theodora was a beautiful and glamorous woman that was mature beyond her years. She had gorgeous short, blonde hair that she wore in bouffant, big brown eyes and was very petite. By early 1963 Nick began dating Theodora and by the end of that same year, they were married. Shortly after they had their first child. They, of course, named her Katerina after Nick’s mother. Two years later, they had their second child Alexi, who was also born in Theodora’s village of Kardamyla in Chios. In 1968, the family officially moved to the United States in search of better work. In 1973, Nick officially acquired. Nick became more and more fluent in English once he opened the Taverna. He still prefers to speak Greek with his family and has a strong accent, but when Kat is annoyed with him she will speak English to him.

Present Day

Currently, Nick owns and runs Kefi Greek Taverna in Astoria New York.

Is a single-father. He tragically lost his wife in 1979, to a driver who hit her with his car. She sadly died on impact. He was never truly the same after that, he used to like to go out and do things and now he blocks out all his sadness and worries with running the restaurant. Ever since losing his wife, he's kept a watchful eye on his daughter, Kat. He want’s only the best for her and to shelter her from bad things in the world. That’s why he always has her working.

Values: Nick values his family, and hard-working individuals. The number one qualification for getting a job at Kefi is to work hard. Take short breaks and be on time for work. If you have a strong work ethic, Nick will respect you.

Worldview: Unfortunately, Nick does have that old school Greek mentality. He treats his daughter Kat like she is about five and doesn’t let do anything except go to work and go home. He believes Kat will be the safest when she is kept busy. He also doesn’t let her date anyone, not Greek or anyone he simply doesn’t approve on. Kat is basically only allowed to date when Nick picks the man.

Fears: I think the reason Nick is so overprotective about Kat is that he fears she will get involved in a bad crowd (which is stupid because he should know his daughter well enough to know she wouldn't). As much as he likes and respect’s Maxine, he fears her partying ways will rub off on his daughter.

Hates: Nick hates when Kat and Maxine take long smoke breaks. Even though Nick is a life-long smoker, he does not like seeing his little girl smoke so much. Little does he know that he causes her half the stress that makes her want to smoke. He also hates when Kat talks back to him in any argument, He gets really fired up.

Imperfections/contradictions: I would say Nick’s imperfection is that he is in denial that Kat is no longer a Child. I think because of the premature loss of his wife, he in a way has made Kat fill that void, in the sense that he has here around the house, grooming her the business, seeking suitors, etc. This has also caused him to be highly overprotective despite the fact that Kat is a woman with her own wants and needs.

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Romances - Romances.com, romances.com/movie-my-big-fat.

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This scene between Cal and Rose perfectly captures the dynamic I envision between Kat and Yianni. The forwardness from Cal here is how I envision Yianni, while Kat will act with discomfort and disgust in reaction to Yianni like Rose does in this scene. 

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YIANNI MAKRIS CHARACTER INFLUENCES

“Caledon Hockley from “Titanic” is perhaps the biggest character influence on the main antagonist, Yianni Makris. He was the first person I thought of when I created Yianni Markris.  Although they hail from entirely different eras, Cal and Yianni hold a very similar mentality in a number of ways. Much like Cal, Yianni is a total male chauvinist, he believes he is superior of Kat and that he is her property. They are also both in an arranged relationship, both older than the women they are with, and they both don’t know how to love the women they have. The only difference with Yianni is he is a total womanizer and we don’t see this much with Cal. Another similarity is that they both want what they can’t have. Despite Yianni’s motives, he does develop some feelings for Kat. In many ways, I think this is the case for Cal when it comes to Rose. 

Another character influence on Yianni is Julian Kaye from “American Gigolo. While Yianni isn’t a male escort, he is very proud of his ability to seduce women. He is charming, handsome, and know’s it like Julian. Like Julian, Yianni takes pride in being able to get any woman in bed with him. I would say that Yianni is more dominating and chauvinistic than Julian, and definitely more abusive and aggressive toward women. He treats them more like objects.

Physical Description of Yianni

Yianni will stand at 6′0 Tall, have thick, dark brown slicked hair (similar hairstyle to Julian Kaye), and olive skin. He will being dashingly handsome like Caledon Hockley from “Titanic” and and Julian Kaye from “American Gigolo.” I would say that Yianni’s overall style resembles Julian Kaye, with expensive and exclusively designer suits.

C Fanpop, Inc. “Caledon ‘Cal’ Hockley Photo: Cal Hockley.” Fanpop, www.fanpop.com/clubs/caledon-cal-hockley/images/31405017/title/cal-hockley-photo. 

Caledon Hockley.” James Cameron's Titanic Wiki, jamescameronstitanic.wikia.com/wiki/Caledon_Hockley.

“American Gigolo: Gray High-Yoke Armani Jacket.” BAMF Style, 29 Aug. 2017, bamfstyle.com/2017/08/31/americangigolo-4-gereingray/.

“American Gigolo.” TVGuide.com, www.tvguide.com/movies/american-gigolo/113417/.

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MEET MAXINE DIMARTINO: Character Checklist

Physical Appearance: 

Maxine’s physical appearance very much resembles Kit De Luca from “Pretty Woman” as she is a character influence on Maxine. Much like Kit, she has that classic Italian American look, pretty with big brown eyes, big smile, and the classic 80′s ponytail Kit wears above. Maxine has a petite build and stands at about 5′5. She is thin. 

Back Story:

Maxine “Veronica” DiMartino was born on July 7th, 1963, in Astoria, New York to Italian American parents, Salvatore and Maria DiMartino. In fact, Maxine’s last name is a little parody of Kit De Luca from “Pretty Woman.” She is an only child and grew up always close to her parents. As she got older, she began to rebel against her parents and did a lot of partying and drinking in her high school years. Because of her partying ways, her parents forced her to get a job when she was 16. It was then when she started working at “Kefi Greek Taverna” busing tables. It was there she met the owner Nick and instantly connected with his daughter Katerina. Although Kat and Maxine are quite different personality-wise they clicked instantly because they both saw qualities in each other that they admired. Maxine admired Katerina’s work ethic, innocence, and sweetness, while Katerina admired Maxine’s straight-forward, free-spirited, tell it like it is personality. She also loved yet envied how Maxine was able to do whatever she wanted. At age 19, sick of living under her parent's roof, Maxine saved up and picked up extra hours at the Taverna to afford her own closet-sized studio apartment in Astoria. Her parents were devastated by her life decisions as they wanted her to pursue an education. This caused a major rift between her and her parents. Overall, Maxine may not be living large, but she is happy to be self-made and on her own. On a side note, I thought I would mention that Maxine is the one who gave Katerina the nick-name “Kat.” She found Katerina harder to say so she simplified it. 

Present Circumstances. 

In present-day 1988, Maxine is 25 years old and continues to work as a waitress at Kefi Greek Taverna where she is practically treated as a member of the family with an exception to Nick who likes her as a person but often questions some of her life choices. I do think deep down Nick views her as a daughter figure and only wants what is best for her. When Nick is not in a grumpy mood they actually have a playful relationship. At this point, she hasn’t spoken to her Mother and Father in about five years. They become somewhat estranged because of disagreements over Maxine’s life choices and her moving out of the house at such a young age and not considering an education. Maxine remains Kat’s closest friend and confidant throughout the series. There is also a little playful chemistry that plays out between Maxine and Kat’s younger brother Alexi. Alexi is 22 while Maxine is 25. Initially, Maxine was dismissive of Alexi’s crush seeing as though he is three years young and she grew up with him but now seeing the handsome young man he has become she can’t help falling for him. Due to the long hours she works (doubles shifts Monday through Thursday’s and A double shift on Sunday) and the many years she has been at the Taverna, Maxine makes quite a lot of money through tips and her pay. As disapproving as Nick is with her life choices, he has grown a slight soft-spot for her and considers her to be one of his most valuable workers. 

 Values, beliefs, worldview, attitudes, opinions

When it comes to values, Maxine values hard work plain and simple. She takes on long hours in order to support herself. She likes the idea of being self-made as it is rewarding. She also values going out and having a good time. Maxine has tried drugs like cocaine in the past, but she is not a regular user and usually encourages Kat to never try drugs. Maxine’s drug of choice is to drink. She likes to go out and get tipsy. Maxine is a firm believer in being a free spirit, this also accounts for her worldview. She doesn’t like anyone telling her what to do, she is very independent one day. As far as attitude, Maxine is a New Yorker through and through, she is a straight shooter and she tells it like it is. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind when something seems fishy or wrong. Maxine is open-minded and always listens to other’s opinions despite being strong-willed in her own opinions. Maxine has a tendency to curse too.

Loves

Maxine loves a lot of things. When she is not working, she loves to go down to the local record shop and buy the newest records to treat herself. Maxine is not the best singer, but she is a lover of music. Like Kat, she likes a lot of the big artists of the day like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, etc. Her favorite Michael Jackson song off “Bad” is “Dirty Diana.” Maxine aside from her love of everything music and MTV, Maxine, of course, has a tremendous love for her friend Kat. Growing up in the restaurant alongside each other has made them more like a sister than friends. As her confidant and partner and crime, Maxine confides in Kat the same way Kat does in her. She would take a bullet for her. 

Hates

Maxine lives a pretty happy life, of course, there are things she hates. For example, she hates rude customer’s. Whenever customers are rude, she has to bite her tongue and not flip out. There was an instance where a customer accused her of messing up an order when the customer never specified they did not want tzatziki on her gyro. Maxine and the woman had a heated exchange, and Nick had to send her home for the day to cool off. Maxine also hates sneaky people. She has a good intuition when people are up to something. Usually, she is always on point with an exception to Yianni who has just about everyone around him slightly charmed because that is how much of a snake he is.

Fears

As much as Maxine loves her independence, she does fear that she will never find a man to one day love her. She has had the phases of one night stands and friends with benefit’s situations but she craves real love. She fears not finding love because it is one of her biggest wants. Depending, on what happens between her and Alexi that might play out for her.  

Wants

As I mentioned above, one of Maxine’s biggest wants is to find genuine love. The gritty, tough Maxine loves her independence but craves the love of a man that will love her for her an all her imperfections. She is sick of sleazy men and fakes. Aside from her own personal wants, she wants Kat to blossom and become her own. She sees Kat is constantly living for the wants of other people and not herself, so she is always very supportive and encouraging to Kat particularly in decision-making situations.

Imperfections and Contradictions

I think the biggest contradiction for Maxine would be her wants vs her worldview in a way. Maxine is a free-spirit working girl, yet she wants love and a relationship and even one-day marriage. It’s contradictory because it’s harder to live your independent-normal way when you have to consider the wants and needs of a significant other. Later on in the series that will prove to be a serious conflict for Maxine.

Lewis, Rachel. “The Cast Of Pretty Woman Reveal Their Secrets.” Pens & Patron, 18 Dec. 2017, www.pensandpatron.com/lifestyle/pretty-woman-fb/.

Michael Jackson Photo from Pinterest Board, Michael Jackson

https://www.pinterest.com/mjj5809y/

“MTV's Origins in the 80s.” Like Totally 80s, 27 Aug. 2014, www.liketotally80s.com/2010/08/80s-mtv/.

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IMPORTANT PLACES

KEFI GREEK TAVERNA

This is how I envision “Kefi Greek Taverna” to look like. This Taverna is owned by the “Floradis” family in the pilot. It is an important place in the pilot and a common setting in the episodes. The is the place of no escape for Kat as she spends most of her days working here. Zenon Taverna and Taverna Kyclades are both Greek Taverns in Astoria, NY. They are setting inspirations for Kefi Greek Taverna.

THE ROSE CLUB AT THE PLAZA HOTEL, MANHATTAN NY

This fancy lounge and restaurant happens to be where Yianni brings Kat on their first date in an effort to woo her. This is lounge features cabaret singers and high quality food and cocktails. Clearly it is really boujee and expensive. It is the type of place Yianni and his sleazy lawyer friends hang out and banter about politics and women. 

KAT”S APARTMENT

Kat shares an apartment with her father and brother. She occupy the loft-like/attic-like upstairs while her brother and father each have a bedroom since it is a two bedroom apartment. Kat loves having the upstairs to herself because it is truly an escape from everything

Citations

Zenon Taverna, zenontaverna.com/index.php.

“Taverna Kyclades, Queens.” Flying Fourchette, www.flyingfourchette.com/2016/06/03/taverna-kyclades-queens/.

The Rose Club, Manhattan

ww.theplazany.com/meetings-and-celebrations/the-rose-club/

http://www.dreamholidayrental.com/Well-built-stone-split-level-apartment-opposite-the-sunken-city-at-Ancient-Epidavros-(ref44987).ashx

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“Burning Up” by Madonna from Madonna (1983)

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Maxine and Kat are huge Michael Jackson fans, so I thought I would include this.

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This is one of Maxine’s favorite songs of the “Bad” album from Michael Jackson. She recommends the song to Kat who eventually sings it in a future episode of the series with the house band. 

dirty diana | michael jackson

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Madonna is one of Kat’s favorite Artists and Influences

Citation:

“Madonna Gifs.” Madonna Gifs, madonnagifss.tumblr.com/.

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This is a visual Influence/Look for “Kat” Floradis

This is Greek Pop Star Eleni Foureira. She constantly flaunts her naturally wavy hair. She has a model-like physique and a Meditteranean look. Exactly how envision Kat looking. 

b2019. “Celebrity Style.” Pinterest, 26 Mar. 2017, www.pinterest.com/pin/733594226772603962/.