History Creator / VeraFarmiga

** To de-stress from filming intense scenes on ''Bates Motel'', she would play Music/{{Slipknot}} (yes, the heavy metal band) on her guitar.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
** Series/Hawkeye2021 as Eleanor Bishop

* ''[[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Hawkeye]]'' (TBD) as Eleanor Bishop

Farmiga found her way into acting during her junior year of high school, after being benched during a soccer game and subsequently convinced by a friend to audition for the school play. She won the leading role. Now bitten by the acting bug, she earned her BFA in theatre from Syracuse University in 1995 and started her career on the stage. In 1997 she made her screen debut opposite Creator/HeathLedger in the TV series ''Series/{{Roar}}''.

She made her directorial debut in the 2011 drama film ''Higher Ground'', in which she also starred; the film earned critical praise for both her performance and her directing. Incidentally, it also launched the career of her much-younger sister, Creator/TaissaFarmiga.

Vera Ann Farmiga (/fɑrˈmiːɡə/; born August 6, 1973 in Clifton, New Jersey) is a Ukrainian-American actor and film director.

Farmiga finally broke into the mainstream when she gained critical acclaim following her performance as businesswoman Alex Goran in the 2009 comedy-drama ''Film/UpInTheAir'', for which she was nominated for a slate of awards, including an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. While her profile had been steadily increasing since ''Down to the Bone'', this was the film that brought her into the mainstream as one of Hollywood's most gifted actresses.

She 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 ''Film/TheDeparted'', the 2007 horror ''Joshua'', and the 2008 historical drama ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas''. She made her directorial debut in the 2011 drama film ''Higher Ground'', which also starred her sister, Creator/TaissaFarmiga.

Farmiga gained critical acclaim following her performance as businesswoman Alex Goran in the 2009 comedy-drama ''Film/UpInTheAir'', for which she was nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also starred as Kate Coleman in the 2009 horror film ''Film/{{Orphan}}'' and Capt. Colleen Goodwin in the 2011 action-thriller movie ''Film/SourceCode''.

In 2013 she made her debut as famous paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the 2013 horror film ''Film/TheConjuring'', a role which she has continued to reprise throughout [[Film/TheConjuringUniverse the franchise]] and which has garnered her critical acclaim as one of the best horror actresses in Hollywood.

* ''Film/UpInTheAir'' (2009) as Alex Goran

* ''Series/BatesMotel'' (2013 -- 2017) as Norma Louise Bates
* ''Film/TheConjuringUniverse'' (2013 -- present) as Lorraine Warren:

* ''Series/WhenTheySeeUs'' (2019) as Elizabeth Lederer

''Film/TheManySaintsOfNewmark'' (2021) as Livia Soprano

* TheCastShowoff: She's an excellent pianist, something which is shown off in, among other things, ''Bates Motel'' and ''At Middleton''.

* AwardSnub: A lot of people are still very, ''very'' unhappy that she didn't win an Emmy for ''Bates Motel''.

* HiddenDepths: Vera is Ukrainian American (her first name means "faith") and was raised in an insular ethnic community that spoke Ukrainian as a first language. She did not learn English until she was six. She's also a classically trained pianist and an excellent guitar player, when she was a teenager she toured Ukraine and Eastern Europe as a Ukrainian folk dancer, and when she's not filming she lives in rural New York, where she raises goats for milk and wool. (And yes, she can and does spin her own yarn.)

* HiddenDepths: Vera is Ukrainian American (her first name means "faith") and was raised in an insular ethnic community that spoke Ukrainian as a first language. She did not learn English until she was six. She's also a classically trained pianist and an excellent guitar player, and when she was a teenager she toured Ukraine and Eastern Europe as a Ukrainian folk dancer.

* MsFanservice: Many of her roles qualify as this, as she has no problem getting her kit off on camera. Even Lorraine Warren gets to swan around in gorgeous (albeit modest) vintage outfits. (She did, however, use a body double for her nude scene in ''Up in the Air'', as she'd just had a baby and was still nursing.)

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: She has a long list of villains and morally-grey characters on her resume (the latter including her iconic role as [[Series/BatesMotel Norma Bates]]), and has a real gift for playing darker roles. In real life, however, she is universally known a bubbly sweetheart who is kind to everyone she meets, her fans included.

* HiddenDepths: Vera is Ukrainian American (her first name means "faith") and was raised in an insular ethnic community that spoke Ukrainian as a first language. She did not learn English until she was six. When she was a teenager she also toured Ukraine and Eastern Europe as a Ukrainian folk dancer.

* DoingItForTheArt:She's also open about the fact that she vastly prefers independent films to studio pictures, finding that the latter often give less scope for character exploration and development, but has kept doing studio films so she can afford to do indies. And even with studio films, she refuses to take roles she can't absolutely commit to.[[note]]It's not that she doesn't like studio films at all -- for instance, she absolutely loves doing the ''Conjuring'' movies -- but she does tend to find indies more artistically fulfilling.[[/note]]

* HiddenDepths: Vera is Ukrainian American (her first name means "faith") and was raised in an insular ethnic community that spoke Ukrainian as a first language. She did not learn English until she was six.

* MsFanservice: Many of her roles qualify as this. Even Lorraine Warren gets to swan around in gorgeous vintage outfits. (She did, however, use a body double for her nude scene in ''Up in the Air'', as she'd just had a baby and was still nursing.)

* MsFanservice: Many of her roles qualify as this. Even Lorraine Warren gets to swan around in gorgeous vintage outfits.

Vera Ann Farmiga (/fɑrˈmiːɡə/; born August 6, 1973 in Clifton, New Jersey) is an American actor and film director of Ukrainian descent.

* MsFanservice: Many of her roles qualify as this. Even Lorraine Warren gets to swan around in gorgeous vintage outfits.
* RealitySubtext: Absolutely adores her close friend and ''Conjuring'' co-star Creator/PatrickWilson, which only adds to their onscreen chemistry. [[LikeBrotherAndSister It's very mutual.]]

->''There are women who make things better, there are women who change things, there are women who make things happen, who make a difference. I want to be one of those women.''

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: She has a long list of villains and morally-grey characters on her resume (the latter including her iconic role as [[Series/BatesMotel Norma Bates]]) and has a real gift for playing them. In real life, however, she is universally known a bubbly sweetheart who is kind to everyone she meets.

->''"There are women who make things better, there are women who change things, there are women who make things happen, who make a difference. I want to be one of those women."''