Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and film director.
Farmiga made her feature film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise.
This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and
the 2001 television series UC: Undercover.
She was also cast in the 2001 thriller 15 Minutes.
Her other film appearances and roles include the 2003 comedy Dummy, the 2004 drama Down
to the Bone, the 2006 crime thriller The Departed, the 2007 horror Joshua, and the 2008 historical
drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
She made her directorial debut in the 2011 drama film Higher Ground, which also starred
her sister.
Farmiga gained critical acclaim following her work in the 2009 comedy-drama Up in the
Air, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award,
and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
She also starred as Kate Coleman in the 2009 horror film Orphan, Capt.
Colleen Goodwin in the 2011 thriller/action movie Source Code, and famous paranormal investigator
Lorraine Warren in the 2013 horror film The Conjuring.
As of 2013, she stars as Norma Louise Bates in the A&E TV series, Bates Motel, for which
she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Early life Farmiga, the second of seven children, was
born in Clifton, New Jersey.
She is the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants Mykhailo, a computer-systems analyst, and
Luba Farmiga, a schoolteacher.
Farmiga was raised in an "insular" Ukrainian-American community, with Ukrainian as her native language.
She attended a Ukrainian Catholic school in Newark and toured with a Ukrainian folk-dancing
ensemble, Syzokrili.
As a girl, she converted with her family from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to Pentecostalism.
In 1991, Farmiga graduated from Hunterdon Central Regional High School.
She has one older brother named Victor, and five younger siblings: Stephan, Nadia, Alexander,
Laryssa and Taissa Farmiga.
Career 1996–2001
Although she originally intended to become an ophthalmologist, Farmiga attended Syracuse
University's School of Visual and Performing Arts.
She made her Broadway debut in 1996 as an understudy in the play Taking Sides.
The same year, she starred as Miranda in the American Conservatory Theater production of
The Tempest.
She also performed in several productions as a member of The Barrow Group, a prestigious
New York City Theatre Company, where her credits include The Seagull and Good.
Following her theater debut, she played a role in the television series Roar, which
was filmed in Australia, alongside Heath Ledger.
Farmiga said that the series "wanted to be Braveheart but turned out more Xena: Warrior
Princess."
Throughout the late 1990s, she continued appearing in stage, television and film roles, including
a supporting role as Kerrie in the 1998 film Return to Paradise, a drama about two friends
struggling to save another friend from an impending death sentence.
She starred with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche and Joaquin Phoenix.
In 2000, the romantic comedy-drama Autumn in New York, in which Farmiga had a small
role, was released.
The film is about a man who falls in love with a beautiful young woman who is terminally
ill.
Autumn in New York afforded her the chance to work with actors Richard Gere and Winona
Ryder.
Later, Farmiga had a major supporting role in the crime-thriller 15 Minutes, starring
Robert De Niro.
She starred in the Macedonian film Dust, opposite Joseph Fiennes.
The film opened at the 2001 Venice Film Festival.
That same year, she portrayed the character of Josephine in Snow White: The Fairest of
Them All, a made-for-television film.
In 2001, Farmiga joined the cast of the NBC action-thriller television series UC: Undercover.
The show, however, was canceled in early 2002.
2002–2008
Farmiga had her first starring role in the 2002 romantic drama film Love in the Time
of Money.
The film received a limited theatrical release.
The following year, she appeared alongside Milla Jovovich and Adrien Brody in the romantic
comedy Dummy, which also had a limited release.
In 2004, Farmiga released the independent drama film Down to the Bone.
The film took place mainly in upstate New York and was filmed in digital video.
Her performance as the character of Irene earned her several awards nominations, including
the Best Actress award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Best Female
Lead award from the Independent Spirit Awards.
Farmiga also had a supporting role in the 2004 thriller remake The Manchurian Candidate.
Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep co-starred in the film.
The Manchurian Candidate was well received by critics and was a mild success at the worldwide
box office, grossing $96 million.
In 2005, at the Toronto International Film Festival, opened fantasy feature Neverwas,
in which she played Eleanna.
Rather than attending auditions for films in which she is interested, Farmiga makes
short films which she submits for casting.
"To fade in and fade out, have intimacy with the mikes, the lighting, and have the luxury
of takes – you could make yourself as ugly or as beautiful as you wanted."
One of these audition films led to Martin Scorsese inviting her for what she calls "a
chemistry read" with Leonardo DiCaprio, which led to her role as a police psychiatrist in
The Departed.
Later she was nominated for an Empire Award and shared with the other The Departed members
cast the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
nomination.
In 2007, Farmiga landed the lead role in the American/Korean drama Never Forever, about
a New York woman arranging to pay an illegal immigrant from Korea to have sex with her,
so that she might get pregnant and save her marriage.
Her performance was praised by critic G. Allen Johnson who described her as "...the best
American actress you've never heard of."
Farmiga starred with Sam Rockwell in the 2007 psychological horror Joshua.
Later, she appeared in the 2008 drama film Quid Pro Quo, appearing as Fiona.
The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and received favorable reviews; David
Edelstein of New York magazine stated that Farmiga "is – as usual – scarily good.
Her madness isn't something out of the ether.
She's always visibly calculating, thinking better of something reckless she's about to
do – then doing it anyway."
Farmiga appeared in the British drama The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, as the wife of
a Nazi commandant, played by David Thewlis.
The films tells about a friendly relationship between two eight-year-old boys, one the son
of the camp's Nazi commandant, the other a Jewish inmate.
She won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the film.
That year, Farmiga played the role of Erica Van Doren in the political thriller Nothing
But the Truth, which starred Matt Dillon and Kate Beckinsale.
The role earned Farmiga a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 Broadcast Film
Critics Association Awards.
2009–present
Farmiga next appeared in Jaume Collet-Serra's horror-thriller film, Orphan.
In the film, she and Peter Sarsgaard portrayed a couple who, after the death of their unborn
child, adopt a mysterious 9-year old girl.
The film was released theatrically in the United States on July 24, 2009.
Orphan received mixed reviews and grossed $76,699,632 worldwide.
Toby Young of The Times wrote that Farmiga "becomes more convincing as the story unfolds.
By the end, she has you in the palm of her hand."
Farmiga starred opposite George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, and Melanie Lynskey in the 2009
comedy-drama, Up in the Air, which was initially given limited release on December 25, 2009.
In an interview with NJ.com, Farmiga explained her character: "She doesn't temper her desires
at all.
She makes clear her needs and expects to have the world accommodate them.
It's not a character we often see on-screen, and when we do, more often than not she's
bereft of dignity.
So that was cool."
Up in the Air received universal acclaim and was one of Farmiga's biggest box office successes,
with a worldwide $163,227,071 gross.
Roger Ebert praised her, saying: "Farmiga is one of the warmest and most attractive
women in the movies, or at least she plays one."
In 2010, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe
Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture as well as many other nominations.
On June 25, 2010, she was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Farmiga started filming the surrealist romantic comedy film, Henry's Crime, with Keanu Reeves
in December 2009, with filming wrapping in early 2010.
The film was screened at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14.
Farmiga played Colleen Goodwin in the techno-thriller, Source Code, which was released on April 1,
2011.
She had her directorial debut in the 2011 film Higher Ground, in which she also stars.
In June 2012, playing Christine McVie, Farmiga started to film The Drummer, a biopic about
Dennis Wilson, drummer in The Beach Boys, alongside Aaron Eckhart, Rupert Grint and
Chloë Grace Moretz.
In 2013, Farmiga starred in the horror film The Conjuring, which was both a critical and
financial success.
She portrayed the famous paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, alongside Patrick Wilson,
who played her husband and partner, Ed.
A sequel to the film is in pre-production, with both Wilson and Farmiga signed on to
return.
Commencing in 2013, Farmiga played the role of Norma Bates, the mother of Norman Bates
in the A&E television series Bates Motel, both a prequel to, and a story reboot of,
Alfred Hitchcock's horror film Psycho.
For her role in the series, Farmiga earned a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television
Award for Best Drama Actress as well as being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding
Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Personal life Farmiga met French actor Sebastian Roché
while filming Roar.
The two eloped to the Bahamas after the series ended in 1997.
The marriage ended in 2004.
Farmiga married Renn Hawkey in September 2008.
Hawkey, a carpenter, is the former keyboardist for a synthpop band named Deadsy.
Farmiga and Hawkey have a son, Fynn, born in 2009, and a daughter, Gytta, born in 2010.
Her sister is actress Taissa Farmiga.
The sisters consider each other their best friends.
The younger Farmiga told Teen Vogue that her sister is "my stylist, my everything."
Farmiga feels similarly: "Taissa is the person you take with you to choose your Oscar gown
and then take to In-N-Out Burger.
As much of an age difference as there is, she is one of my best friends in the world."
Filmography Film
Television Awards and nominations
References
External links Vera Farmiga at the Internet Movie Database
Vera Farmiga on Twitter