Actress conjures up spooky role
SANFRANCISCO— Vera Farmiga isn’t exactly a scream queen, but she is making noise in the horror genre.
On TV, Farmiga plays the mother meanest in the Psycho prequel show Bates Motel. Previously, the 39-year-old was featured in the supernatural thrillers Orphan and Joshua.
Her latest immersion into the spooky zone arrives with The Conjuring.
So far, she’s OK with being associated with fright-night features.
“Out of a roster of 40-plus films in my career, there might be four you can count as genre,” Farmiga said during an interview at a San Francisco hotel suite.
She had her breakout in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 crime film The Departed with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio and earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the 2009 satire Up in the Air opposite George Clooney.
Still, there’s no denying she’s found a niche in the world of scary movies.
In James Wan’s The Conjuring, Farmiga portrays Lorraine Warren, the real-life clairvoyant wife of demonologist Ed Warren (played by Patrick Wilson).
Together, the Warrens confronted demon spirits from the 1950s onward (Ed died in 2006). Authors of multiple books on the paranormal, they investigated more than 4,000 alleged incidents, including the famous Amityville haunting that inspired two major studio films in 1979 and 2005.
The Conjuring chronicles (with some dramatic licence) one of the Warrens’ most challenging cases.
In the movie version, the investigators end up confronting an evil entity trying to possess a family in an antiquated Rhode Island farmhouse in 1970.
Ron Livingston plays the husband and father of five daughters who feels helpless against the phantom. Lili Taylor is the wife and mother most affected by the possession.
As the Warrens delve into the case, they realize the demon ghost is more powerful than they anticipated. The slow-build terror is expertly exploited by Wan, who is best known for co-creating the Saw series and directing Insidious and its sequel, due out this fall.
For Farmiga, the eeriness of The Conjuring was secondary to defining the personal story of the Warrens. Lucky for her, Lorraine Warren agreed to discuss the case.
Fortunately for Wan, the actress agreed to play the part because she liked the script and wanted to work opposite Wilson.
“I have been a big fan and I’ve had a huge crush on Vera since Running Scared,” said the director, referring to the 2006 crime thriller. “I wanted somebody with strength but who could be vulnerable at the same time, and I knew she could do that.”
It turned out she managed the difficult task thanks to a special motivation. “What I loved most about the role is that I got to embody this fascinating woman,” Farmiga said of Lorraine Warren, now 83.
The actress says she was overloaded with information from the Warrens’ many books, taped lectures and footage of special events.