Vera Farmiga

Birth Name: Vera Ann Farmiga

Nickname/Stage Name: Vera Farmiga

Birth Date: August 6, 1973

Genres: Drama, Horror, Romance, Thriller

Occupation(s): Actress, Director, Producer

Years Active: 1996 till Present

Net Worth: $10 million

 

Personal Life

Vera Farmiga was born in New Jersey to Ukrainian parents. She has an older brother and five younger siblings. She met actor Sebastian Roche when they both involved in the filming of the fantasy series Roar and they eloped to the Bahamas in 1997.

Farmiga and Roche were married but got divorced in 2004. The actress began dating musician Renn Hawkey and they tied the knot in September 2008 (she was five months pregnant with their first child at the time).

She gave birth to a son in January 2009 and a daughter in November 2010. 

Education

Farmiga graduated from Hunterdon High School in 1991 and subsequently studied Theatre at Syracuse University. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts in 1995.

Career

Her earliest acting role was in February 1996 when she starred as Miranda in the stage production of The Tempest. She made her debut on Broadway alongside Ed Harris in October of that same year in the play Taking Sides.

Farmiga had a major part in the Fox short-lived fantasy series Roar (1997). She had a supporting part in the thriller Return to Paradise (1998).

She was next seen in the crime drama The Opportunists (2000) and her first starring role came in the romantic drama Love in the Time of Money (2002).

Her breakthrough role was as a drug-addicted mother in the indie drama Down to the Bone (2004). She starred alongside John Malkovich in the war drama In Transit (2008).

In 2009, she played the lead role in Jaume Collet-Serra's psychological thriller Orphan and starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the sci-fi movie Source Code (2011).

She appeared in James Wan's horror film The Conjuring (2013) as Lorraine Warren alongside Patrick Wilson who portrayed her onscreen husband. She reprised the role in the subsequent sequels.

Farmiga starred alongside Liam Neeson in The Commuter (2018) and portrayed Dr. Emma Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).

Awards

BendFilm Festival Award (2004)

Marrakech International Film Festival Award (2004)

Sundance Award (2004)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award (2005)

National Board of Review Award (2006)

Satellite Award (2006)

British Independent Film Award (2008)

Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award (2009)

Qantas Film and Television Award (2010)

Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award (2010)

Provincetown International Film Festival Award (2011)

Women's Image Network Award (2011)

Boston Film Festival Award (2013)

Saturn Award (2013)

Gracie Award (2015)

People's Choice Award (2017)

Quotes

"It's terrifying to be the lead. There's a moment of excitement, and then pure terror."

"I really don't feel a need to be famous. But I do feel a need to make a difference, to shed light on human emotion through acting."

"I just can't feel lukewarm about a character. I either despise her, admire her, or don't understand her and want to understand her."

Trivia

She did not learn English until she was six years old.

Her younger sister, Taissa Farmiga, is also an actress.

Her hobbies include knitting and boxing.

Movies

Return to Paradise (1998)

The Opportunists (2000)

Mind the Gap (2004)

In Transit (2008)

Source Code (2011)

The Judge (2014)

Skin (2018)

Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)