‘Direction took me by surprise’

Vera Farmiga talks about her latest flick and her directorial debut.

Having carved a niche for herself with critically-acclaimed performances, actor Vera Farmiga has now turned director with movie Higher Ground. “Direction took me by surprise. I was attached to the script, and developed it and the more I developed it, the more my personality and sensibility became a part of it,” says the 37-year-old.

HT Image

“It was a snowball effect, even before I could realise,” says the actor-turned-director, who is currently riding on the success of her techno thriller outing with Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, Source Code.

Farmiga credits her experience with different directors as her inspiration. “I’ve been privileged to work with really great directors. Hopefully they’ve rubbed off on me. I’ve been inspired by them in different ways,” she says.

Shifting to Source Code, Farmiga stars as Colleen Goodwin, the main real-time contact and Source Code coach for Gyllenhaal’s character, who wakes up in the body of an unknown man, discovering he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

If her performances as an actor were a recurring thought in her mind earlier; having turned a director, it’s the editing process now, that occupies her subconscious. “Now I’m more considerate of the editing, in terms of continuity and how important that is,” she says.

More on Farmiga...
Name: Vera Ann Farmiga
Age: 37
Debut: Return to Paradise (1998)
Known for: Dummy, Down to the Bone, The Departed, Joshua, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Latest flick: Source Code
Future projects: Higher Ground, A View from the Bridge
Spouse: Renn Hawkey