Vera Farmiga

Biography

Vera Ann Farmiga, born August 6, 1973 in Clifton, New Jersey, is an American actress and director. She is the second of seven children in a Ukrainian immigrant family. Farmiga did not speak English until she was about six, having grown up speaking Ukrainian and attending a Ukrainian Catholic school. She also toured with a Ukrainian folk‐dance ensemble. After high school she studied acting at Syracuse University’s School of Performing Arts. Farmiga began her professional career in theatre in the mid-1990s, appearing on Broadway, and then moved into television and film. She first earned strong critical attention for her role in Down to the Bone (2004). She went on to roles in The Manchurian Candidate, The Departed, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Up in the Air (2009). In 2011 she directed her first film, Higher Ground, in which she also starred. She is well known for her work in horror movies, especially as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring series, as well as for playing Norma Bates on Bates Motel. She is married, has two children, and her younger sister Taissa Farmiga is also an actress.