Taissa Farmiga

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]

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]

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]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taissa Farmiga.

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