Taissa Farmiga

Taissa Farmiga /tɑːˈɪsə fɑːrˈmiːɡə/[1] (born August 17, 1994) is an American actress. She began her career in the drama film Higher Ground (2011), which was directed by her sister Vera, and subsequently made her television debut in the FX series American Horror Story: Murder House (2011). She then appeared in the American Horror Story seasons Coven (2013–2014), Roanoke (2016), and Apocalypse (2018), which earned her a reputation as a contemporary scream queen.[2]

Taissa Farmiga
Farmiga in February 2016
Born	(1994-08-17) August 17, 1994 Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2011–present
Relatives	Vera Farmiga (sister) Adriana Farmiga (cousin)

Farmiga has since appeared in films such as The Bling Ring (2013), Mindscape (2013), At Middleton (2013), The Final Girls (2015), 6 Years (2015), In a Valley of Violence (2016), Rules Don't Apply (2016), What They Had (2018), The Long Dumb Road (2018), The Nun (2018), and The Mule (2018). She also voiced the superhero Raven in the animated films Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017), and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020). She made her stage debut in the off-Broadway revival of the drama play Buried Child (2016).

Early life

Farmiga was born in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,[3] on August 17, 1994,[4] the daughter of Ukrainian immigrant parents Lubomyra Spas, a schoolteacher, and Michael Farmiga, a systems analyst.[5][6] She has six older siblings named Victor, Vera, Stephan, Nadia, Alexander, and Laryssa, the last of whom was born with spina bifida.[7][8][9] Her maternal grandparents met at a displaced persons camp in Karlsfeld during World War II.[10] Farmiga attended public school until fourth grade, after which she began homeschooling.[11] She has stated that she understands the Ukrainian language but can only partially speak it. She is proficient in American Sign Language, having taken classes for four years.[11]

Career

Farmiga at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015

Although Farmiga initially planned to become an accountant,[12] she was persuaded to appear in her sister Vera's directorial debut drama Higher Ground, playing the 16-year-old version of the lead character Corinne Walker.[13] Shortly after its premiere at the 2011 Sundance, and following rave reviews for her performance,[14] she was signed to talent agency ICM Partners.[15] That same year, Farmiga starred in the first season of FX's anthology series American Horror Story, launching her to worldwide prominence.[16] In American Horror Story: Murder House she portrayed Violet Harmon, the troubled adolescent daughter of Vivien (Connie Britton) and Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott)[17][18] – a role she secured in her first professional acting audition.[19] Farmiga then joined the cast of Sofia Coppola's crime satire The Bling Ring, based on the real life group of the same name, portraying 17-year-old wild child Sam Moore.[20] The film opened in Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, to generally positive reviews.[21]

Farmiga next portrayed Audrey Martin, an uptight teen touring a college campus, in the romantic comedy At Middleton, co-starring with her sister Vera and Andy García.[22] The film premiered at the 2013 Seattle International Film Festival, receiving a mixed to positive response from critics.[23] She then returned to American Horror Story for the third season of the series, American Horror Story: Coven (2013–2014),[24] portraying Zoe Benson, a young witch afflicted with a dark and dangerous power; she received acclaim for her performance.[25] Farmiga had her first starring role as Anna Greene in Jorge Dorado's psychological thriller Mindscape,[26] which premiered at the 2013 Sitges Film Festival. She then co-starred as Sarah, the main character's love interest, in the biographical crime drama Jamesy Boy (2014).[27]

Farmiga subsequently starred in three films that premiered at the 2015 South by Southwest: the first was Todd Strauss-Schulson's horror comedy The Final Girls, in which she portrayed the lead role of final girl Max Cartwright.[28][29] The second was Hannah Fidell's heavily improvised romantic drama 6 Years, in which she starred as Melanie Clark.[30][31] The third and final film was Pippa Bianco's short drama Share, in which she played Krystal Williams, a teenager who returns to school after an explicit video of her sexual assault goes viral.[32] Her performances in all these films were acclaimed, and Farmiga was listed as one of the breakout stars of the festival.[33][34] She next appeared as Karen McClaren, a young journalist who gets caught up in the hunt for a serial killer, in ABC's short-lived crime drama series Wicked City (2015).[35] The series was cancelled after three episodes, with the remaining unaired episodes later debuting on Hulu.[36]

In 2016, Farmiga made her stage debut as Shelly in the Off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's drama Buried Child,[37] also starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.[38] She then starred opposite Ethan Hawke and John Travolta in the Ti West-directed revenge Western film In a Valley of Violence, playing a motormouthed young innkeeper who befriends Hawke's character.[39] The film premiered at the 2016 South by Southwest, and was met with positive reviews.[40] Farmiga made her voice acting debut as the superhero Raven in DC Comics' Justice League vs. Teen Titans, directed by Sam Liu, which premiered at the 2016 WonderCon.[41] She returned to American Horror Story for the sixth season of the series, American Horror Story: Roanoke, guest starring as Sophie Green in the November 2016 episode "Chapter 9".[42]

Farmiga next co-starred as Sarah Bransford in Warren Beatty's ensemble romantic comedy-drama Rules Don't Apply, which premiered at the 2016 AFI Fest to mixed reviews.[43] The project reunited Farmiga with her Buried Child co-stars Harris and Madigan, who portray her character's parents in the film.[44] She reprised her voice role as Raven in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, again directed by Sam Liu, which premiered at the 2017 WonderCon.[45] Farmiga then played Emma Ertz in Elizabeth Chomko's drama film What They Had,[46] and re-teamed with director Hannah Fidell for the comedy film The Long Dumb Road, both of which premiered at the 2018 Sundance.[47]

She next appeared as the Catholic novitiate Sister Irene in Corin Hardy's horror film The Nun, the fifth film in The Conjuring Universe, which was released in September 2018.[48] In August 2018, it was confirmed that Farmiga would return to American Horror Story for the eighth season of the series, American Horror Story: Apocalypse,[49] portraying both her Murder House and Coven characters, Violet Harmon and Zoe Benson. Farmiga then played protagonist Merricat Blackwood in Stacie Passon's film adaptation of Shirley Jackson's mystery novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which premiered at the 2018 LA Film Festival.[50] She also appeared alongside Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper in the Eastwood-directed drama film The Mule, released in December 2018.[51]

In May 2019, Farmiga appeared as Annie Miller in an episode of the CBS All Access reboot of The Twilight Zone, opposite Rhea Seehorn, Luke Kirby and Ike Barinholtz.[52] She will next co-star in the HBO period drama series The Gilded Age as socialite Gladys Russell.[53]

Personal life

Farmiga resides in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.[54] In May 2019, she was reported to be engaged to screenwriter and director Hadley Klein.[55]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Higher Ground	Teenage Corinne Walker
2013	The Bling Ring	Sam Moore
	At Middleton	Audrey Martin
	Mindscape (a.k.a. Anna)	Anna Greene
2014	Jamesy Boy	Sarah
2015	The Final Girls	Max Cartwright
	6 Years	Melanie Clark
	Share	Krystal Williams	Short film
2016	In a Valley of Violence	Mary-Anne
	Justice League vs. Teen Titans	Raven	Voice role
	Rules Don't Apply	Sarah Bransford
2017	Teen Titans: The Judas Contract	Raven	Voice role
2018	What They Had	Emma Ertz
	The Long Dumb Road	Rebecca
	The Nun	Sister Irene
	We Have Always Lived in the Castle	Merricat Blackwood
	The Mule	Ginny
2020	Justice League Dark: Apokolips War	Raven	Voice role
	John and the Hole

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	American Horror Story: Murder House	Violet Harmon	11 episodes
2013–2014	American Horror Story: Coven	Zoe Benson	13 episodes
2015	Wicked City	Karen McClaren	8 episodes
2016	American Horror Story: Roanoke	Sophie Green	Episode: "Chapter 9"
2018	American Horror Story: Apocalypse	Zoe Benson	5 episodes
		Violet Harmon	Episode: "Return to Murder House"
2019	The Twilight Zone	Annie Miller	Episode: "Not All Men"
2020	50 States of Fright	Hannah	Episode: "Almost There"
2020	The Gilded Age	Gladys Russell	Upcoming series

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Buried Child	Shelly	The New Group, Off-Broadway

References

1. "Just Jared Spotlight presents Taissa Farmiga". YouTube. April 7, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
2. Minear, Piper (August 17, 2017). "Taissa Farmiga: A New Generation's Scream Queen". iHorror.
3. Sundel, Jenny (March 11, 2015). "SXSW 2015: Taissa Farmiga Takes Off". Women's Wear Daily.
4. "5 Things You Don't Know About Taissa Farmiga". Entertainment Tonight. November 4, 2013.
5. Brown, Mick (August 30, 2008). "Vera Farmiga: rare breed". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on September 3, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
6. Smindak, Helen (October 15, 2006). "Actress Vera Farmiga: reaching for stardom". The Ukrainian Weekly.
7. Savage, Sophia (August 22, 2011). "Vera and Taissa Farmiga Talk Higher Ground: Strength, Vulnerability, Self-Discovery, Courage". IndieWire. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014.
8. Neumyer, Scott (March 15, 2014). "Actresses Vera and Taissa Farmiga Are Sisters and Best Friends". Parade. Archived from the original on March 19, 2014.
9. Tucker, Reed (March 7, 2010). "Ascent of a women". New York Post. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
10. "Nadia Spas Obituary". Legacy.com. October 23, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
11. DeSocio, Jeffrey Thomas (October 6, 2015). "Farmiga bring the chills in 'The Final Girls'". Good Day L.A. at FOXLA.com.
12. Doty, Meriah (July 30, 2015). "Taissa Farmiga Talks '6 Years' and Sis, Plus Exclusive Trailer". Yahoo! Movies.
13. Jacobs, Laura (June 22, 2011). "The Family Farmiga". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
14. Friedman, Roger (January 26, 2011). ""Up in the Air" Star Vera Farmiga Has Directing Triumph at Sundance". Showbiz 411. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
15. Miller, Daniel (March 30, 2011). "Agency Signing Round-Ups: 'Falling Skies' Star Connor Jessup to UTA; Vera's Sister Taissa Farmiga to ICM". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
16. Goldberg, Lesley (May 5, 2011). "Duo Join Ryan Murphy's 'American Horror Story' FX Pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
17. Wightman, Catriona (December 26, 2011). "'American Horror Story' Taissa Farmiga Q&A: 'Violet is a dark soul'". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
18. Hale, Mike (October 4, 2011). "'American Horror Story' on FX: They Said It Had Good Bones". The New York Times.
19. Andreeva, Nellie (May 5, 2011). "'American Horror Story' Casts Young Leads". Deadline Hollywood.
20. Jagernauth, Kevin (March 1, 2012). "American Horror Story Star Taissa Farmiga Joins Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring". IndieWire. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
21. Rosen, Christopher (May 16, 2013). "'The Bling Ring' Reviews: Sofia Coppola's Burglar Bunch Film Debuts At Cannes". HuffPost. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
22. Kit, Borys (June 19, 2012). "Three Actors Join Indie Dramedy 'Admissions'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
23. Rome, Emily (May 18, 2013). "Vera Farmiga, Andy Garcia film 'Middleton' premieres in Seattle". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
24. Goldberg, Lesley (February 7, 2013). "'American Horror Story' Adds Frances Conroy, Taissa Farmiga for Season 3". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
25. Pasha, Adam (October 7, 2013). "American Horror Story: Coven Premiere, "Bitchcraft"". HuffPost. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
26. Hopewell, John (October 17, 2012). "Strong, Cox, Farmiga enter 'Mindscape'". Variety.
27. Kroll, Justin (March 1, 2012). "'Horror Story' thesp Farmiga lands 2 roles". Variety. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
28. Kroll, Justin (February 27, 2014). "SPWA Acquires 'Final Girls' Starring Malin Akerman, Taissa Farmiga". Variety.
29. Harvey, Dennis (March 14, 2015). "SXSW Film Review: 'The Final Girls'". Variety. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
30. Kilday, Gregg (June 12, 2014). "Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield Starring in Hannah Fidell's New Feature". The Hollywood Reporter.
31. "6 Years (2015)". Metacritic. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
32. Chang, Justin (March 17, 2015). "SXSW: 'Krisha,' 'Peace Officer' Win Grand Jury Prizes". Variety.
33. Setoodeh, Ramin (March 20, 2015). "The 14 Women Who Dominated the SXSW Film Festival". Variety.
34. Smith, Nigel M.; Kohn, Eric (March 23, 2015). "The 12 Breakouts of the 2015 SXSW Film Festival". IndieWire.
35. Goldberg, Lesley (February 25, 2015). "'American Horror Story' Alum Taissa Farmiga Joins ABC Anthology". The Hollywood Reporter.
36. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (December 23, 2015). "Hulu Streaming Un-Aired Episodes of ABC's Canceled 'Wicked City'". Variety.
37. Gerard, Jeremy (October 8, 2015). "'American Horror Story's Taissa Farmiga Joins Ed Harris, Amy Madigan in 'Buried Child' Revival". Deadline Hollywood.
38. "'Buried Child', Starring Ed Harris & Amy Madigan, Extends Again Off-Broadway". Broadway.com. February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
39. Yamato, Jen (May 22, 2014). "Taissa Farmiga Joins Ethan Hawke, John Travolta In Revenge Western 'In A Valley Of Violence'". Deadline Hollywood.
40. DeFore, John (March 12, 2016). "'In a Valley of Violence': SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
41. Sands, Rich (January 18, 2016). "Roll Call: Meet the Cast of Justice League vs. Teen Titans". TVInsider.com. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
42. Verhoeven, Beatrice (October 18, 2016). "Taissa Farmiga, Finn Wittrock to Return to 'American Horror Story: Roanoke'". TheWrap. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
43. Busch, Anita (July 14, 2016). "'Rules Don't Apply' Trailer: First Look At Warren Beatty's Star-Studded Film". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
44. Brown, Emma (February 22, 2016). "Taissa Farmiga Takes the Stage". Interview.
45. Kit, Borys (January 19, 2017). "Christina Ricci, Miguel Ferrer Join Voice Cast of 'Teen Titans' Animated Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
46. Kit, Borys (March 17, 2017). "Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon to Star in Drama 'What They Had' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
47. Galuppo, Mia (April 12, 2017). "Jason Mantzoukas, Tony Revolori to Star in Indie Road Trip Film (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
48. McNary, Dave (April 24, 2017). "Taissa Farmiga to Play Titular Role in Horror Movie 'The Nun'". Variety. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
49. Hipes, Patrick (August 7, 2018). "'American Horror Story: Apocalypse' Adds Familiar Faces To Cast". Deadline Hollywood.
50. Kit, Borys (August 10, 2016). "Alexandra Daddario, Taissa Farmiga Join Sebastian Stan in 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle'". The Hollywood Reporter.
51. Kit, Borys (June 4, 2018). "Dianne Wiest, Michael Pena Join Clint Eastwood's 'The Mule' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
52. Petski, Denise (January 28, 2019). "'The Twilight Zone': Taissa Farmiga, Rhea Seehorn, Luke Kirby & Ike Barinholtz To Star In Episode Of CBS All Access Reboot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
53. Petski, Denise (November 19, 2019). "'The Gilded Age': Denée Benton, Louisa Jacobson, Taissa Farmiga, Blake Ritson & Simon Jones Join HBO Period Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
54. Beale, Lauren (May 27, 2019). "Scream queen Taissa Farmiga buys reanimated Traditional in Los Feliz". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
55. Caller Jaffe, Marcia (May 29, 2019). "Lewis Takes Well-Deserved Bow at Westin". The Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved June 4, 2019. Stepson Hadley Klein, with fiancé actress Taissa Farmiga, flew in from Los Angeles

External links

• Taissa Farmiga on IMDb
• Taissa Farmiga at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Taissa Farmiga at AllMovie
• Taissa Farmiga on Twitter