Vera Farmiga returned to television in 2013 as Norma Louise Bates in the drama-thriller series Bates Motel on A&E. The program is an updated version of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror film Psycho.
For her performance in the role, she was honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actress in Television in 2013 and the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Cable TV Actress in 2016. She received multiple nominations for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her participation in the show.
Critics gave her great marks; Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter and Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times both cited her as a series high point. Farmiga served as both an executive producer and producer for Bates Motel.
Farmiga portrayed Lorraine Warren, a ghost hunter, in James Wan’s horror film The Conjuring 2013. The film received favorable reviews and performed well financially; at the time, it was the second-highest-grossing horror film ever.
Her performance earned her a nomination for the MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-Shit Performance. The critics commended her for giving a delicate and moving performance as well as for her and co-star Patrick Wilson’s strong chemistry.
Vera Farmiga Parents: Meet Luba Farmiga and Mykhailo Farmiga
Farmiga was born in Clifton, New Jersey, on August 6, 1973. Michael Farmiga and Lubomyra “Luba” (née Spas), her parents, are of Ukrainian ancestry. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a systems analyst who later worked as a gardener.
Farmiga has five younger siblings, including Taissa, Stephan, Nadia, Alexander, and Laryssa (who was born with spina bifida). Farmiga also has an older brother named Victor.
Nadia (née Pletenciw; 1925–2014) and Theodor Spas (1921–1990), her maternal grandparents, first met in a Karlsfeld camp for refugees during World War II. Farmiga’s family converted to Pentecostalism when she was a child, leaving the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.