Vera Farmiga

**Vera Ann Farmiga** (born August 6, 1973 in Passaic County, New Jersey) is an American actress and director. She is known for her role as Lorraine Warren in _The Conjuring_ (2013) and _The Conjuring 2_ (2016).

## Early life

Farmiga comes from an immigrant family from Ukraine. She grew up with her six brothers and sisters in a Ukrainian community and learned with six years old the English language. In her youth she was in a Ukrainian folk group. In the beginning she went to a Ukrainian Catholic school and then, she studied at the _School of Visual and Performing Arts_ of the Syracuse University.

## Career

In 1996 she debuted in the Broadway theater play,  _Return to Paradise_ with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche and Joaquin Phoenix in 1998. 2000 she played in the film drama _Autumn in New York_ as _Lisa Tyler_. She played in the action film called _15 Minutes_.

In 2004 she got an extra price of the Sundance Film Festival. 2005 the _Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards_ and the _Independent Spirit Award_ for her performance in the film _Down to the Bone_.

She became famous thanks to the film 2006: _The Departed_. The film won four Academy Awards. In _Up in the Air_ from the year 2009, she got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She had her directing debut with the film _Higher Ground_ (2011). Since 2013 she plays the main role as _Norma Louise Bates_ on the series _Bates Motel_.

## Personal life

From 1997-2005 she was married with the actor Sebastian Roche. In 2008 she married Renn Hawkey. They have a son Fynn (*2009) and a daughter Gytta (*2010).

She has also a sister called Taissa Farmiga.

## Television and movie roles

|Year|Movie/Program|Role|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1997|_Roar_|Caitlin|||
|1998|_Return to Paradise_|Kerrie|||
|rowspan="2"|2000|_Autumn in New York_|Lisa Tyler||
|The Opportunists|Miriam Kelly||||
|rowspan="2"|2001|_15 Minutes_|Daphne Handlova||
|_Snow White_|Josephine||||
|2002|_Dummy_|Lorena Fanchetti|||
|rowspan="4"|2004|_Iron Jawed Angels_|||
|_Touching Evil_|||||
|_Down to the Bone_|Irene|Marrakech International Film Festivals Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Prize for Acting Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Actress in a Supporting Role|||
|_The Manchurian Candidate_|Jocelyne Jordan||||
|rowspan="2"|2005|_The Hard Easy_|||
|_Neverwas_|Eleanna||||
|rowspan="3"|2006|_Running Scared_|Teresa Gazelle||
|_The Departed_|Madolyn Madden||||
|_Breaking and Entering_|Oana||||
|rowspan="2"|2007|_In Tranzit_|||
|_Joshua_|||||
|rowspan="2"|2008|_Nothing But the Truth_|Erica Van Doren|Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress|
|_The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas_|Elsa|British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress|||
|rowspan="2"|2009|_Orphan_|Katherine „Kate“ Coleman||
|_Up in the Air_|Alex Goran|Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress|||
|rowspan="2"|2010|_Henry’s Crime_|Julie Ivanova||
|_Higher Ground_|||||
|2011|_Source Code_|Colleen Goodwin|||
|2012|_Safe House_|Catherine Linklater|||
|2013|_The Conjuring_|Lorraine Warren|||
|2013–2017|_Bates Motel_|Norma Louise Bates|||

## Infobox (person)

- **image**: Vera Farmiga 2, 2011.jpg
- **caption**: Farmiga at the _Hugo (film), Hugo_ premiere, New York City, 21 November 2011
- **birth name**: Vera Ann Farmiga
- **birth place**: Clifton, New Jersey, USA
- **occupation**: Actress, director
- **years active**: 1996–present
- **relatives**: Taissa Farmiga (sister)
- **children**: 2