Vera Ann Farmiga was born August 6, 1973 in Essex County, New Jersey, USA. She is an American actress.

Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in 1996, making her Broadway debut as an understudy in the play "Taking Sides". Her stage credits included performances in "The Tempest", "The Glass Menagerie", "Hamlet", and "Second-Hand Smoke" (1997). Vera's on stage performances caught the eye of television producers and she went on to make her television debut as the female lead, Catlin, opposite Heath Ledger in the short lived Fox series "Roar" (1997). The show introduced Vera to her future husband, actor Sebastian Roache, whom she married during the same year. The marriage ended in 2005.

Vera continued on with television work, appearing in "Rose Hill" (1997) and making appearances in "Law and Order" (1998) and "Trinity" (1998). She also starred in "Return to Paradise" (1998) opposite Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix and Anne Heche, catching the eye of both film critics and audiences. In 2000 she went on to film "The Opportunists" with Christopher Walken and "Autumn in New York" with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder.

Farmiga gained more attention and recognition for her work for the role of Daphne Handlova in "15 Minutes" (2001), in which she starred opposite Robert De Niro and Edward Burns. She also appeared in "Dust" (2001), "Show White" (2001), "Love in the Time of Money" (2002) and "Dummy" (2002) before winning the role of Alex Cross in "UC: Undercover", an NBC series, which was unfortunately cancelled after 11 episodes.

After the cancellation of the series, Vera Farmiga took a little time off just to return in 2004 with 5 movies and yet another TV show! She starred in "Down to the Bone" in the role of Irene, which fans still list as one of her best performances to date. The performance earned Vera a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and nominations at Independent Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. Next she pulled off another strong performance in HBO's "Iron Jawed Angels" opposite Hilary Swank and had a smaller role in "In the Gap". She starred in "Touching Evil" as Detective Susan Branca. The TV movie was so well received that it was turned into a series. Unfortunately this production was cancelled just after six episodes, despite a large fan following. Vera herself went on to star opposite Meryl Streep in "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004) as Jocelyne Jordan.

In 2005 Vera appeared in "Neverwas" and "The Hard Easy". She went on to roles in "Breaking and Entering" (2006) and the talked-about "Running Scared" (2006) before making a powerful entrance to Hollywood's A-list as Madolyn in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed". 2007 saw Vera in "Never Forever" and "Joshua".

Filmography

• The Vintner's Luck (2007)
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
• In Tranzit (2007)
• Quid Pro Quo (2007)
• Never Forever (2007)
• Joshua (2007)
• The Departed (2006)
• Breaking and Entering (2006)
• Running Scared (2006)
• Neverwas (2005)
• The Hard Easy (2005)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• "Touching Evil" (6 episodes, 2004)
• Mind the Gap (2004)
• Touching Evil (2004)
• Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
• Down to the Bone (2004)
• "UC: Undercover" (11 episodes, 2001-2002)
• Dummy (2002)
• Love in the Time of Money (2002)
• Snow White (2001)
• Dust (2001)
• 15 Minutes (2001)
• Autumn in New York (2000)
• The Opportunists (2000)
• "Roar" (11 episodes, 1997-2000)
• "Trinity" (1 episode, 1998)
• Return to Paradise (1998)
• "Law & Order" (1 episode, 1998)
• Rose Hill (1997)

Awards

• National Board of Review Best Acting by an Ensemble "The Departed" 2006
• Los Angeles Film Critics Best Actress "Down to the Bone" 2005