Vera Farmiga Vera Ann Farmiga ( ; born August 6, 1973) is an American actress who is best known for portraying paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring Universe films '' The Conjuring'' (2013), '' The Conjuring 2'' (2016), '' Annabelle Co ...

is an American actress, director, and producer. She began her career on stage as an

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ''The Dresser'' (for w ...

's 1996 play '' Taking Sides'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. The following year, she starred in the Off-Broadway play ''Second-Hand Smoke'' (1997) by

Mac Wellman Mac Wellman, born John McDowell Wellman on March 7, 1945, in Cleveland, Ohio, is an American playwright, author, and poet. Farmiga made her film debut in the drama-thriller '' Return to Paradise'' (1998). She then had supporting roles in the romantic drama film '' Autumn in New York'' (2000), the crime drama film ''

The Opportunists ''The Opportunists'' is a 1999 British-American crime drama film, written and directed by Myles Connell, and starring Christopher Walken, Cyndi Lauper, Donal Logue, and Vera Farmiga. The film takes place in the urban setting of Greenpoint, Brook ...

'' (2000), and the action thriller film ''

15 Minutes ''15 Minutes'' is a 2001 American satirical buddy cop action thriller film directed and written by John Herzfeld and starring Robert De Niro and Edward Burns. Its story revolves around a homicide detective (De Niro) and a fire marshal (Burns) w ...

'' (2001). Farmiga's breakthrough role came in 2004, when she was cast in the drama film '' Down to the Bone''. For her performance, she won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Acting and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She then starred in the political thriller ''

The Manchurian Candidate ''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy. Th ...

'' (2004) and the crime thriller '' Running Scared'' (2006). Farmiga's role in ''

The Departed ''The Departed'' is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film '' Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Win ...

'' (2006), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, brought her to worldwide prominence. She subsequently had a lead role in the romantic drama ''

Never Forever ''Never Forever'' () is a 2007 romantic drama film written and directed by Gina Kim, and starring Vera Farmiga. The film was critically acclaimed when it was first screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and won the Jury Prize at the Deau ...

'' (2007). In 2008, Farmiga starred in the historical drama ''

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Much like the process he undertakes when writing most of his novels, Boyne has said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without ...

'', for which she won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress. That same year, she appeared in the political drama '' Nothing But the Truth'', for which she was nominated for the

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given out at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The awards are presented by the Critics Choice Association (CCA), and were first presented in 1995 with Mira Sorvino bei ...

. She then starred in the psychological thriller ''

Orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

'' (2009), and gained critical acclaim for her role in the comedy-drama '' Up in the Air'' (2009), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2011, Farmiga made her directorial debut with the drama '' Higher Ground'', for which she was nominated for the Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Director and the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture. Also in 2011, she starred in the science fiction film ''

Source Code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...

''. The following year, she appeared in the action thriller ''

Safe House A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

'' (2012) and the comedy-drama ''

Goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of th ...

'' (2012). In 2013, Farmiga starred as Lorraine Warren in the horror film ''

The Conjuring ''The Conjuring'' is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. It is the inaugural film in ''The Conjuring'' Universe franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as Ed and ...

'', for which she was nominated for the

MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-Shit Performance The following is a list for the MTV Movie & TV Award winners for Best Scared-As-Shit Performance. The award was first given out in 2005, and then in 2006. In 2010 this award was renamed from Best Frightened Performance and renamed to Most Frighten ...

. The following year, she starred in the drama '' The Judge'' (2014). In 2016, Farmiga reprised her role as Lorraine Warren in the horror sequel ''

The Conjuring 2 ''The Conjuring 2'' (known in the United Kingdom as ''The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case'') is a 2016 American supernatural horror film, directed by James Wan. The screenplay is by Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes, Wan, and David Leslie Johnson. It i ...

'' and co-starred in the satirical comedy ''

Special Correspondents ''Special Correspondents'' is a 2016 satirical comedy film written, directed by and starring Ricky Gervais. The film stars Gervais, Eric Bana, Vera Farmiga, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin Pollak, Benjamin Bratt, America Ferrera and Raúl Castillo. T ...

''. In 2018, she appeared in the action thriller '' The Commuter'' and the biographical drama '' The Front Runner''. In 2019, Farmiga starred in the science fiction thriller '' Captive State'', the monster film '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters'', and the horror sequel ''

Annabelle Comes Home ''Annabelle Comes Home'' is a 2019 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Gary Dauberman, in his directorial debut, from a story by Dauberman and James Wan, who also served as producer with Peter Safran. It serves as a sequ ...

''. From 2013 to 2017, she starred in the A&E drama-thriller series '' Bates Motel'' as Norma Louise Bates. Her performance in the role earned her the 2013

Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Actress on Television. The award is presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, honoring the work of actresses in science fiction, fantasy, and horror f ...

, and nominations for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leadi ...

(2013), the

Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series The Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Critics' Choice Television Awards to recognize the work of television actresses in the drama genre. It was introduced in 2011, when the a ...

(2013–2015), and the

TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama The TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama is an award given by the Television Critics Association. Winners and nominees Multiple wins ;3 wins * James Gandolfini (consecutive) ;2 wins * Andre Braugher (consecutive) * Jon Hamm * Hugh Lau ...

(2013). She also served as a producer on the series. In 2019, Farmiga starred in the miniseries ''

When They See Us ''When They See Us'' is a 2019 American crime drama television miniseries created, co-written, and directed by Ava DuVernay for Netflix, that premiered in four parts on May 31, 2019. It is based on events of the 1989 Central Park jogger case ...

''. For her performance, she received a nomination for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

Film

Television

Stage

See also

References

External links