Vera Farmiga

I think the worst thing that can happen to a good actor is fame. – Farmiga (September 3, 2006)

Vera Ann Farmiga (born August 6, 1973) is an Academy Award- and Primetime Emmy Award-nominated American actress, director and producer.

Quotes

• No! The other thing, that God brought us together for a reason.
  • As quoted in "The Conjuring 2013" as Lorraine Warren.

• I found I was really comfortable taking on a different personality. It saved me from myself, in a way.
  • On choosing to become an actor, as quoted in "Scared No More" by Jenelle Riley at Backstage (March 2, 2006)

• There are some times when I think acting can be a noble profession.
  • As quoted in "A Film of One's Own" by Lynn Hirschberg at The New York Times (September 3, 2006)

• I think the worst thing that can happen to a good actor is fame. The limelight is a tricky place, because you can't believe what's going on around you. You stop observing. You stop perceiving. You stop extending yourself, and you become isolated. Our duty as actors is to remain compassionate and curious. Fame complicates all that.
  • As quoted in "A Film of One's Own" by Lynn Hirschberg at The New York Times (September 3, 2006)

• It's just an incredible gift, giving birth. I never felt so empowered, so powerful, so womanly as I did after I gave birth. I felt more feminine than I ever had in my life.
  • As quoted in "Vera Farmiga's New Role: The Gal Who Dumps George Clooney" by Jeanne Wolf at Parade (December 3, 2009)

• As an actor, you're sort of the court-appointed lawyer for the character. And that's what used to draw me to scripts – something in a woman that I wanted to defend, something that I recognized or wanted to understand, something that turned my head.
  • As quoted in "Vera Farmiga interview: Chats 'Up in the Air' and her craft" by Stephen Whitty at NewJersey.com (December 7, 2009)

• I've gravitated towards independent cinema because you have to work harder in studio scripts to flesh out characters, particularly female ones. They are not as sharply edged, they tend to be quite watery. They are not renderings of women as I know them.
  • As quoted in "Vera Farmiga: 'I demand a lot from myself'" by Elizabeth Day at The Guardian (March 27, 2011)

• Faith is important to me. I wanted to make sure the tone was reverent. I'm just someone who marvels at God. I grew up Catholic, but I'm very comfortable in all religions.
  • On her directorial debut film Higher Ground, as quoted in "The One-Minute Interview with Vera Farmiga" by Andrew Richdale at GQ (August 25, 2011)

• My husband watched it live online and I was awakened with coffee and the good news. He's my biggest fan and he was really rooting for this to happen.
  • On her Primetime Emmy Award nomination, as quoted in "Vera Farmiga talks about her Emmy nomination, the next season of 'Bates Motel,' and 'The Conjuring 2'" by Clark Collis at Entertainment Weekly (July 18, 2013)

• I just wanted to study how to portray clairvoyance, and I finally took an ocular approach. She has these beautiful blue eyes and her gaze is gently penetrating. All the obvious stuff about her you can find online but I wanted more of the nitty-gritty, like how did it affect her sex life? If you're domestic ballbuster by day and a ghostbuster by night, how does that affect your home life? I opted not to go down to their museum of the occult that they maintain in the basement, Patrick and I both. We stayed upstairs.
  • On getting to know Lorraine Warren for her role in The Conjuring, as quoted in "Vera Farmiga on The Conjuring, Bates Motel, maternal angst … and knitting" by John Patterson at The Guardian (August 2, 2013)

• I have a two-year-old who just turned three, and my four-year-old just turned five. I have the same irrational feelings taking them to pre-school. It's this charged combination of stress and joy and anxiety and excitement. When they're away, you've got a sudden loss of purpose and this ever-present fear about the kid's welfare. The departure of our children from our nest is not an easy thing.
  • As quoted in "Q&A: Bates Motel's Vera Farmiga on the Terrors of Parenthood" by Eric Spitznagel at Esquire (February 1, 2014)

External links

• Vera Farmiga on IMDb