Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in the original Broadway production of Taking Sides After expanding to television and film, her breakthrough came with her starring role as a drug addict in the drama Down to the Bone She then had roles in the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate , the crime drama The Departed , and the historical drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas She was also established as a scream queen for her performances in the horror films Joshua and Orphan For her performance in the comedy-drama Up in the Air , Farmiga was nominated for an Academy Award and other accolades.
She then made her directorial debut with the drama film Higher Ground , in which she had the leading role. Farmiga was born on August 6, , [ 1 ] in Clifton, New Jersey. Her drama professor, Gerardine Clark, stated: "We'd never have won had she not nailed the fourth act. A number of the judges told me that. Farmiga's next film was the crime drama The Opportunists , in which she co-starred as Miriam Kelly, the daughter of Christopher Walken 's character. The series premiered in September , and was cancelled after one season.
Farmiga had her first starring role in the romantic drama Love in the Time of Money , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The following year, Farmiga had her breakthrough role as a drug-addicted mother, Irene Morrison, in the independent drama film Down to the Bone , [ 39 ] which premiered at Sundance in January Charlie Brooks in the indie thriller, The Hard Easy.
Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle praised her as "the best American actress you've never heard of". David Edelstein of New York magazine stated that Farmiga's performance on the latter film was "scarily good", and added: "She's always visibly calculating, thinking better of something reckless she's about to do — then doing it anyway". By the end, she has you in the palm of her hand". Farmiga then starred in the surrealist romantic comedy Henry's Crime as stage actress Julie Ivanova, [ 73 ] which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
During her second pregnancy, Farmiga made her directorial debut with the micro-budget, Christian-themed drama Higher Ground , [ 78 ] in which she starred as the protagonist, Corinne Walker. Her next role was the flaky New Age mother Wendy Whitman in the independent comedy-drama Goats , [ 86 ] which opened at the Sundance.
