I'm part wood nymph. I require mountains and warm, dense patches of moss to thrive.
Vera Farmiga
Music is what our feelings sound like.
I have the best husband a wife could possibly have. He's the best father my children could have.
I can't get my knickers in a twist about my age and ageing in an industry that caters to the ids of 14-year-olds.
I've played a lot of mothers in my movies.
I love Saturday nights with my best friend and a big bowl of pasta, wanting a good scare, something that will say, 'Listen, your life is not as bad as this. Your life can be so much worse.'
You earn very little money on independent films and I'm the provider for my home, so I do have to think of taking one for the accountant time and again and that means studio pictures.
In the quiet moments, the discoveries are made.
In these times, in this harsh, rude, warring world that we live in, where most of the bloodshed is 'My god is greater than your god,' and we're fighting in the name of our god, we have to find a way to peaceably coexist, spiritually.
As an actor, you're sort of the court-appointed lawyer for the character.
My only real advice to Oscar nominees is, 'If you haven't actually seen a competitor's film, don't fib and say you have and blow smoke up their wahooziewhatsits.' Always best to be frank and tell them the truth.
Am I ambitious? I used to be afraid of that word but now I think ambition is a good thing.
Faith is important to me.
There are women who make things better, there are women who change things, there are women who make things happen, who make a difference. I want to be one of those women.
It's true: I don't remember what life was like before parenthood.
Do I pray? Yes. Prayer is very important to me.
I hate being manipulated by song. Don't tell me what I should be feeling. I don't want cellos or violins to be telling me that I should be bawling right now.
I think that films about faith made for faith-based communities have a certain tactic.
It's a very different thing, religion and faith. Religion is man-made, it's man-regulated. And faith, you can define God as you wish. But I think they're two different things.
I love to be surprised.
Normally, I rely heavily on my director to massage me out of my actor comfort zones.
I'm hooked on Polanski's films, his psychological thrillers. I love 'Rosemary's Baby,' I love 'Repulsion.'
I think God gave us senses of humor, and we should use them.
The biggest research of all when I do a character is self-examination. You look at yourself and you ask, 'How am I similar to this person and how am I different?'
I think maybe I was a shepherdess in a past life.
I grew up in a Ukrainian Catholic-turned-Christian household, and that is my family's faith.
Sometimes I attract roles that are necessary either for personal growth or enlightenment.
You don't have to be gay to be attracted to your friend.
I have tender, romantic associations with upstate New York.
Editing is not a part of the filmmaking process I've ever been privy to as an actress.
We're all sick of holy wars and bloodshed because religion is supposed to give us life and a better life and is supposed to bring out our best self. When it results in mass destruction and hatred and anxiety, it's the antithesis I think of what religion was designed to do.
We are all seekers in some way. There are those of us who think they have all the answers and there are those of us who may never get an answer.
Editing yourself is like an irksome coin toss. You've got to strip yourself of super ego and operate from the id. Maybe I've got my Freud mixed up. It's just hard to trade a beauty shot for the performance with truth and a brightly lit zit.
I, for one, am tired of seeing movies about men damaging each other.
Someone once told me that religion is like a knife: You can stab someone with it, or you can slice bread with it.
I'm saying that the depth of exploration of the male psyche and the female psyche is uneven. I see further, deeper renderings of what it means to be a man.
Whether you're making a million dollar film or a $100 million film there is never enough money, there's never enough time.
I am drawn to intimate, often uncomfortable portraits of a woman persevering and awakening.
I chase after inspiring stories.
I just hate one-dimensional portrayals of religion; it's too cheap and easy to do, and ignores the nuances that go into having a belief system.
I look for struggle in the roles I choose - struggle and perseverance.
The limelight is a tricky place, because you can't believe what's going on around you. You stop observing. You stop perceiving. You stop extending yourself, and you become isolated.
I think all religions can agree on certain definitions of God and concepts of God, like God being the god of love, the great 'I am' energy.
My father instilled in me - of utmost importance and innate in me is the yearning to determine for myself - to define God, to define holiness for myself.
I'm just someone who marvels at God.
I come from a massive family, and the youngest is twentysomething years younger than I am, so I grew up with children.
Offers come all the time, but I'm pretty particular. I really have to be wowed by a character I encounter in a script, or a storyline. I really do need to feel inspiration, otherwise I'm just happy planting perennials and making goat cheese.
There really are three types of 'religious' movies: the ones that make fun of it, the ones that vilify it and the ones that literally preach to the converted.
I've never felt the breath of God - you can take that statement literally or metaphorically - more than when I was yearning for a personal, intimate connection to something bigger than me.
Whether we call it religion or faith, we all battle for a balanced integrated soul.
