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Vera Farmiga — news, coverage & facts — IJR

2000s

Farmiga's next film was the crime drama The Opportunists (2000), in which she co-starred as Miriam Kelly, the daughter of Christopher Walken's character. She also had a supporting role as Lisa Tyler in the romantic drama Autumn in New York (2000). The following year, Farmiga had a supporting role as Daphne Handlova in the action thriller 15 Minutes, alongside Robert De Niro, and co-starred in the drama film Dust, which premiered at the 2001 Venice Film Festival. Farmiga subsequently joined the main cast of NBC's short-lived procedural drama series UC: Undercover, as Alex Cross. The series premiered in September 2001, and was cancelled after one season. She then appeared in the Hallmark fantasy television film Snow White: The Fairest of Them All.

Farmiga had her first starring role in the romantic drama Love in the Time of Money, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. In June 2002, she starred in David Eldridge's Under the Blue Sky at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Farmiga next appeared as Lorena Fanchetti in the comedy-drama Dummy (2003), alongside Adrien Brody.

The following year, Farmiga had her breakthrough role as a drug-addicted mother, Irene Morrison, in the independent drama film Down to the Bone, which premiered at Sundance in January 2004. Praising her performance, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: "If there were an ounce of taste left in Hollywood, the magnificent Vera Farmiga would be a front-runner for the Best Actress Oscar". She won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Farmiga next appeared alongside Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston in the HBO drama film Iron Jawed Angels (2004), as the Polish-American suffragette Ruza Wenclawska. Soon after, she had a supporting role in the 2004 film Mind The Gap, in which she portrayed a woman who left her fiancé at the altar. She then starred as Detective Susan Branca in the short-lived USA Network adaptation of the British crime drama series Touching Evil.

Also in 2004, she had a supporting role as Jocelyne Jordan in the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate, which also starred Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep. The following year, she co-starred in the fantasy drama Neverwas with Aaron Eckhart and Ian McKellen, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Farmiga then appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon as police psychiatrist Dr. Madolyn Madden in Martin Scorsese's crime drama The Departed (2006). For her performance as Madolyn, Farmiga was nominated for the Empire Award for Best Newcomer, and shared with her co-stars the nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Soon after, she portrayed Dr. Charlie Brooks in the 2006 indie thriller, The Hard Easy.

She next starred as Teresa Gazelle in Wayne Kramer's crime thriller Running Scared, and as the Romanian prostitute Oana in Anthony Minghella's romantic crime drama Breaking and Entering (both in 2006). Farmiga subsequently landed the lead role of Sophie Lee in Gina Kim's romantic drama Never Forever, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance. G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle praised her as "the best American actress you've never heard of". She next starred as Abby Cairn in the psychological thriller film Joshua (2007), with Sam Rockwell, and portrayed Fiona Ankany in the drama film Quid Pro Quo, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance. David Edelstein of New York magazine stated that Farmiga's performance on the latter film was "scarily good", and added: "She's always visibly calculating, thinking better of something reckless she's about to do – then doing it anyway".

In September 2008, the historical drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, in which she portrayed Elsa Hoess, was released worldwide. Farmiga won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress for her performance. That same year, she starred in the war drama film In Transit alongside John Malkovich, and portrayed Central Intelligence Agency operative Erica Van Doren in the political thriller Nothing But the Truth. The latter role earned Farmiga a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2009, Farmiga portrayed the lead role of Kate Coleman in Jaume Collet-Serra's psychological thriller Orphan. The film was co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, who had starred with Farmiga in The Departed. Her performance was praised, with Toby Young of The Times writing that she "becomes more convincing as the story unfolds. By the end, she has you in the palm of her hand". She then appeared as Aurora de Valday in Niki Caro's romantic drama The Vintner's Luck, which premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

Also in 2009, she co-starred as frequent flyer Alex Goran, opposite George Clooney, in Jason Reitman's comedy-drama Up in the Air. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised Farmiga's performance, stating that she "is one of the warmest and most attractive women in the movies, or at least she plays one". She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, and her second nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. On June 25, 2010, she was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

2010s

Farmiga then starred in the surrealist romantic comedy Henry's Crime as stage actress Julie Ivanova, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. She next played Capt. Colleen Goodwin in Duncan Jones' science fiction thriller film Source Code, which premiered at the 2011 South by Southwest. In 2010, Farmiga was offered a lead role in Marc Forster's action biopic Machine Gun Preacher, but declined because she was pregnant.

During her second pregnancy, Farmiga made her directorial debut with the micro-budget, Christian-themed drama Higher Ground, in which she starred as the protagonist, Corinne Walker. The film received "generally favorable reviews" on review aggregator site Metacritic and premiered at the 2011 Sundance. Many of her family members were involved in the production: Farmiga's sister Taissa portrayed Corinne as a teenager, her husband Renn Hawkey served as a producer and musical director, and her cousin Adriana Farmiga served as an art curator. She received nominations in both acting and directing for the film, including the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director, and the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture. In his film review, critic Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter noted: "Directing debuts by actors don't come any better than this". Of her performance, Leonard Maltin of IndieWire remarked that Farmiga "gives an honest, empathetic performance should come as no surprise; she is one of the most gifted and daring actresses of our time".

Her next role was the flaky New Age mother Wendy Whitman in the independent comedy-drama Goats, which opened at the 2012 Sundance. That same year, she portrayed CIA operative Catherine Linklater in Daniel Espinosa's action thriller Safe House (2012). Farmiga starred opposite Ryan Reynolds and, for the second time, Denzel Washington.

Farmiga's return to television came in 2013, when she began portraying Norma Louise Bates, the mother of Norman Bates, in A&E's drama-thriller series Bates Motel. The series is a contemporary reboot of Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror film Psycho (1960). For her performance, she won the 2013 Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television, and the 2016 People's Choice Award for Favorite Cable TV Actress. She also received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series (2013–2015), as well as nominations for the 2013 Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and the 2013 TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called Farmiga's performance "superb" and Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times identified her as "the main reason [the series] is surprisingly good". In addition to starring, she served as a producer and later executive producer from the second season to its fifth and final season, which aired in 2017.

She next appeared in James Wan's horror film The Conjuring (2013), which was met with critical and commercial success. The film became the second highest-grossing horror film of all time up to that date. Farmiga portrayed paranormal investigator and self-professed clairvoyant Lorraine Warren, alongside Patrick Wilson, for which she was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-Shit Performance. Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Farmiga resonates an extraordinary sensitivity" in the role, while Justin Chang of Variety called her performance "moving" and highlighted her chemistry with Wilson as a "rock-solid rapport".

She reprised her role in the sequel, The Conjuring 2 (2016), which was also directed by Wan. The film was the second released in the main series, but the third released within The Conjuring Universe. Like its predecessor, The Conjuring 2 was met with a positive critical reception and commercial success, surpassing The Conjuring as the second highest-grossing horror film of all time.

Farmiga appeared as Edith Martin in the romantic comedy At Middleton, with Andy García and her sister Taissa. The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in May 2013. Also in 2013, she starred as Alice Bercovich in Nae Caranfil's Romanian-American comedy-drama Closer to the Moon, based on the events of the Ioanid Gang. Farmiga next co-starred in David Dobkin's drama film The Judge (2014) as Samantha Powell, the love interest and high school girlfriend of Robert Downey Jr.'s character. She then starred as Eleanor Finch in Ricky Gervais' comedy Special Correspondents, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. She next appeared as Alise Firth in Jordan Roberts' adventure comedy-drama Burn Your Maps, which premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Farmiga co-starred as Dr. Nora Phillips in Neill Blomkamp's BMW short film The Escape (2016), alongside Dakota Fanning and Clive Owen. The following year, she executive produced the documentary film Unspoken, which premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2017.

Farmiga co-starred with Liam Neeson in Jaume Collet-Serra's action thriller The Commuter, which was released in January 2018. Also in January 2018, she appeared as a politician in Amazon's sci-fi anthology series Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, in an episode directed by Dee Rees. Farmiga then portrayed Laura Jaconi in Shana Feste's comedy-drama film Boundaries, which premiered in March 2018 at South by Southwest. Next in 2018, Farmiga starred as neo-Nazi group leader Shareen Krager in Guy Nattiv's racial drama Skin, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and portrayed Oletha "Lee" Hart in Jason Reitman's Gary Hart biopic The Front Runner, opposite Hugh Jackman, which was released in November 2018.

In March 2019, she starred as Jane Doe alongside John Goodman in Rupert Wyatt's science fiction thriller Captive State. In May 2019, she portrayed Dr. Emma Russell in the third installment of the MonsterVerse film franchise, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, directed by Michael Dougherty. Also in May 2019, Farmiga portrayed prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer in Ava DuVernay's Netflix crime drama miniseries When They See Us, based on the Central Park jogger case. For her performance, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. In June 2019, she reprised her role as Lorraine Warren in the horror sequel film Annabelle Comes Home.