Vera Farmiga Quotes

I have tender, romantic associations with upstate New York.

Music is what our feelings sound like.

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.

Your soul either feels lifted by something that you read, or it feels squashed by it.

In the quiet moments, the discoveries are made.

No role is more challenging, rewarding and inspiring than my real-life role as a mom and a wife.

There's no wrong way to experience a film.

I think I always try to be accommodating and open and available and proving for my director. I love to give as many takes as they want. I love to give them as many choices as they want.

Am I ambitious? I used to be afraid of that word but now I think ambition is a good thing.

Doubt is the middle position between knowledge and ignorance. It encompasses cynicism but also genuine questioning.

I do love directing. I'm only comfortable working in the independent film arena for a very small budget where I have creative control and I can put my stamp on it.

When you encounter sophistication in the creation of a female character, you thank the writers and you claim it.

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'.

I don't have a caustic sense of humor. What I find funny, that humor comes from a much gentler place.

When you're breastfeeding a child, you don't have the same retention as you do when you're not.

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 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 think the worst thing that can happen to a good actor is fame.

Sometimes music helps. If I feel that it's bogus, I'll literally just call myself out on camera and say that it's dishonest. You do whatever it takes.

I'm hooked on Polanski's films, his psychological thrillers. I love 'Rosemary's Baby,' I love 'Repulsion.'

I was a Ukrainian folk dancer in my teens, and I toured the country in 1991, shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union.

There's just a deeper level of sophistication in the writing of female characters on TV.

Chekhov, when it's done well and you're ready for it, can actually be quite funny.

The more people know about you, the more face-time you get in the media, the harder your job becomes to create a character in whom people suspend disbelief.

Yeah, I think it's like any God-given gift. You writers have the gift of perception. If you don't use it, you're going to lose it. And it's the same thing with you [Lorraine], it's God-given.

I grew up in a Ukrainian Catholic-turned-Christian household, and that is my family's faith.

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.

My husband is my best friend; he knows my sensibilities.

I think God gave us senses of humor, and we should use them.

Whether we call it religion or faith, we all battle for a balanced integrated soul.

Honesty is not synonymous with truth.

You dont necessarily have to be religious to pray.

I was very studious and square in college.

I've played a lot of mothers in my movies.

Do I pray? Yes. Prayer is very important to me.

I look for struggle in the roles I choose - struggle and perseverance.

I come from a massive family, and the youngest is twentysomething years younger than I am, so I grew up with children.

Do I observe holy days and holidays? Yeah, the ritual is very important to me. It's part of being Ukrainian Catholic. So every holy day we're baking pierogis and not eating meat.

I'm pretty squeaky clean. No big tragedies in my childhood or adolescence or adulthood. I've had a very easygoing, simple life.

You know what's more difficult to do organically? Laughing. It's actually one of the hardest things to do on camera.

It's thematic in my career, if you look at most of my choices. It is some level of exploration of maternal angst and maternal heroism.

I love to be surprised.

I think that films about faith made for faith-based communities have a certain tactic.

I just can't feel lukewarm about a character. I either despise her, admire her, or don't understand her and want to understand her.

I, for one, am tired of seeing movies about men damaging each other.

Honestly, I think a good film is spiritual, regardless of whether its subject is faith.

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’m someone who can sit in a Buddhist temple, and I can sit with Pentecostals or with Orthodox Jews, and I still feel like I am in tune with all of them.

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.

Someone once told me that religion is like a knife: You can stab someone with it, or you can slice bread with it.