Real fear fuels American Horror Story star’s acting
17-year-old Farmiga follows in big sister’s footsteps
Even Taissa Farmiga gets scared while filming American Horror Story. Sure, she may play the strongwilled, feisty 15-year-old Violet on TV’S creepiest, strangest and most addictive new show, but the actor freely admits just filming the show can turn into a bit of a spook-fest.
“When we shot in the real house, you sometimes would want to go explore, because it’s so huge, but I didn’t stray too far,” the 17-year-old Farmiga says over the phone from Los Angeles, where the series is filmed. She is poised and well spoken, with the starry-eyed enthusiasm of an ingenue, but enough self-awareness to know she is part of something special: American Horror Story is a certified hit. On its own, the show has probably boosted sales of full-bodied, black rubber jumpsuits (an outfit worn by its most mysterious character).
Three things come to mind when you first see Farmiga on screen — her luminous, ethereal beauty; her incredible talent; and that she’s a dead ringer for that other great actress,
Vera Farmiga (The Departed, Up in the Air). They are, in fact siblings, with 21 years between them. It’s Vera who’s responsible for getting her kid sister into acting. The movie Higher Ground (2011) was a coming out of sorts for the Farmiga sisters — the elder making her directorial debut, and the younger premiering as an actress. The only other acting the young Farmiga had done previously was a part in a school play.
“My sister texted me and asked me if I wanted to be in this movie, and I thought it would be fun,” Farmiga recalls. The acting bug must have bitten her while film- ing Higher Ground. After production wrapped, she got an agent and, soon after, auditioned for American Horror Story, the acclaimed haunted-house drama airing on FX. She was cast as Violet alongside Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) and Dylan Mcdermott (The Practice) as her parents Vivien and Ben Harmon, and Oscar winner Jessica Lange as the nosy, nasty neighbour with a basement full of secrets.
Farmiga is utterly convincing as an emotionally distraught, haunted young woman. The fact that this is only her second role makes her range and talent all the more startling. She is a formidable match for her veteran co-stars; she’s just that good of an actor.
And this is someone who really didn’t have any concrete career aspirations. “Well, when I was seven, I wanted to be a veterinarian,” she says, laughing, “but I guess every kid wants to be a veterinarian.”
Unlike many of her teenage-actor counterparts — see movies such as Hannah Montana or High School Musical — Farmiga has taken a very different path, which is fitting, since American Horror Story in not your typical show. The opening credits alone are enough to have you sleeping with all the lights on. So, what’s it like to be part of such an eerie, unique drama? Well, if you’re Farmiga, you simply go for it. Her approach to getting into character is so matter-of-fact, it’s almost, well, scary.
“Right before the director calls action, you have that second to yourself, and you just get into (character). It’s easy for me. I mean, you just do it.”
Farmiga does admit that sometimes the horror in this American Story adds its fair share of realism.
“The horror aspect, the scary parts, are easy for me. I mean, I can get into that pretty easy, because I get scared. You have to invest yourself in these characters.”