VERA FARMIGA
AGE 33
BIRTHPLACE New Jersey
WHY
As a police psychiatrist in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, the actress trades strong words — and a few kisses — with both Matt
Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Farmiga first met the filmmaker when she
auditioned for Bringing Out the Dead. ''Patricia Arquette ended up
getting that part,'' she says, ''but there was a real ease between us. The
next thing I know'' — well, okay, seven years later — ''Marty calls me on my
cell phone about rehearsals on The Departed.''
BONED UP
Farmiga has acted on stage since the mid-'90s but made her feature debut
in 1998's Return to Paradise and turned heads when she won Best Actress
from the L.A. film critics last year for the tiny indie Down to the
Bone. Still, she's happy to remain anonymous. ''I never get recognized.
Ever. It's because I never look the same.'' She laughs. ''Actually, I have
been recognized quite a bit — but it's always as Claire Forlani or
Patricia Arquette or Cate Blanchett.''
FAMILY TIES
The second of seven siblings from a big Ukrainian family, the Syracuse
grad is a Jersey girl — but she didn't speak English till age 6.
''Ukrainian was my first language,'' she says. ''I'm still proficient. I
just came back from Kiev. I was there for the 20th anniversary of
Chernobyl.''
NEXT
Four indies — Quid Pro Quo, In Tranzit, Joshua, and Never Forever — and
Anthony Minghella's Breaking and Entering, scheduled to
open the same day as The Departed. She giggles: ''I'm losing track!''
