What You Never Knew About Taissa Farmiga
Taissa Farmiga may be young, but she's already built up an impressive resume. The actress burst onto the scene in her sister's 2011 film "Higher Ground" when she was just a teenager. Since then, she has appeared in numerous projects like "The Bling Ring," "6 Years," "The Nun," "The Mule," "American Horror Story," and HBO's "The Gilded Age." You may also recognize her for her voice work, having providing the voice of Raven in "Teen Titans" and other animated DC projects.
Even though Farmiga is best-known for her work in horror movies and TV shows, her performance as the young socialite Gladys Russell on "The Gilded Age" proves that she has a lot more range to offer — and we're sure we'll get to see her take on a wide range of characters in the years to come. Curious to learn more about this talented young actress? Here is what you never knew about Taissa Farmiga.
She's often been mistaken for Vera Farmiga's daughter — but they're actually sisters
When Taissa Farmiga landed her first role in "Higher Ground," she played the younger version of Vera Farmiga's character. At the time, Vera was in her late 30s. Taissa was 16. Many fans quickly jumped to the conclusion that Taissa was Vera's daughter because of the significant age gap of 21 years between them. Of course, the women are actually sisters. Taissa is the youngest of the seven Farmiga children.
Apparently, Taissa and Vera were used to being mistaken for mother and daughter. "When I was growing up, people would always confuse me for Vera's daughter," Taissa told Teen Vogue in 2011.
And even though Vera isn't Taissa's mother, she sometimes felt a bit like she was. In fact, she thinks of her as her "surrogate child." She told Parade, "We're best friends, but I like to think I've parented her in a way, too."
Raven is one of the most special roles Taissa Farmiga has played
You may not have realized it, but Taissa Farmiga is a crucial part of the DC Animated Movie Universe. She played Raven in "Justice League vs. Teen Titans," "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract," and "Justice League Dark: Apokolips War." Even though she was only provided the voice of the character, she considers the role to be one of the most important that she's ever done.
In the third movie, Raven became a leader. "In this day and age, to finally have leaders that are doing what's right for the overall good of everybody with what's going on, it's hard to come by," Farmiga told CBR. "There's so many things that could be said but it's nice to see the ones in charge doing the things that are right for everybody. I think that's incredibly important, especially nowadays." We're just glad that Farmiga got to return to the world of DC three times to revisit this surprisingly fascinating character!
She didn't want to be an actress as a child, but her sister changed that
Even though Taissa Farmiga grew up watching her older sister Vera Farmiga acting, she didn't feel drawn to a career in front of the camera when she was young. She was actually more interested in becoming an accountant, as she told Yahoo! Movies. She was even considering taking accounting classes at a local community college at one point.
"When I was younger, I didn't have any aspirations to be an actress," she explained to Interview Magazine. "A door was opened for me — my older sister [Vera Farmiga] directed her first film ['Higher Ground,' 2011] and put me in it."
At first, Vera struggled to convince Taissa to do the movie. As Taissa told Teen Vogue, her sister had to bribe her with a car before she agreed. However, once she got on set, she soon realized that she enjoyed acting. "I was intrigued by it," she told Interview. "I enjoyed it. I liked trying to understand other people's emotions."
Taissa Farmiga has a bizarre talent for whistling
It's pretty clear that Taissa Farmiga has plenty of natural talents. But, in addition to acting, one of her most unexpected talents is whistling. When asked by Collider for a piece of IMDb trivia, she replied confidently, "I am a fabulous whistler. You give me a song and ... I'm really good at just whistling." When the interviewer asked for a demonstration, Farmiga was happy to oblige.
She began to whistle "Happy Birthday" and proved that she was, in fact, an excellent whistler. She could even put vibrato on each note! Farmiga later tweeted a link to the clip, writing, "Check out my mad whistling skillz."
She also mentioned her whistling talent in a Reddit interview. "I can whistle, like, extremely well. Or so I've been complimented," she wrote. If there was such a thing as a professional whistler, we think Farmiga would probably be the perfect contender. We just hope she gets to show off her whistling talents in a role one of these days.
She almost didn't get her part in The Nun because of her sister
Taissa Farmiga didn't have to audition for her first role in "Higher Ground" because her sister Vera Farmiga chose her for the role. However, that doesn't mean that she's always given roles in projects associated with her older sibling.
When it came to her role as Sister Irene in 2018's "The Nun," Taissa really had to fight for the part with an audition — even though the film was a spin-off of "The Conjuring," which starred her sister. Director Corin Hardy told Entertainment Weekly, "I'm a huge fan of Vera and I felt it would just seem like too much of an obvious choice. Like, I've got the job, and I'm like, 'Oh, who's out there? Oh, we'll get her sister!'" In fact, Hardy was so reluctant to cast Taissa that he almost didn't watch her audition tape. However, when he did, he knew he had to cast her.
"She was just captivating in such a unique way that you look for when you're trying to cast your movie and find special people," he said. "It finished and I was like, 'Okay, no one else can have this role except for her.'"
Taissa Farmiga is married to screenwriter Hadley Klein
Back in 2019, the Atlanta Jewish Times reported that Taissa Farmiga and her boyfriend Hadley Klein were engaged. In 2020, Farmiga surprised her fans by posting a picture of her wedding on Instagram, writing, "Married my best friend." By the looks of things, the pair had a low-key, COVID-safe wedding — Farmiga was even wearing a white face mask with the word "Bride" printed on the side.
So, who is Klein anyway? Well, he is a screenwriter and crew member known for his work on "Veronica Mars," "Joey," and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."
The pair tend to keep their relationship pretty private, but Farmiga has posted about her husband a few times. In 2021, she wrote him a birthday message on Instagram that read, "HBD to the man who brings me peace." Then, later in 2021, she posted an adorable picture of them in matching hats in Hawaii. Looks like Farmiga has found the perfect man for her!
She initially auditioned to play Marian in The Gilded Age
Anyone who has seen "The Gilded Age" will probably agree that Taissa Farmiga was perfectly cast as Gladys Russell, the young socialite who is kept under lock and key by her domineering mother. Even though the character is around 10 years younger than Farmiga, she more than pulled it off.
But, it turns out, Farmiga could have played another character on the show instead. Apparently, the actress first auditioned to play the role of Marian. But even from her first audition, Farmiga knew that it wasn't the right part for her. "When I was auditioning for it, I had a hard time," she told Collider. "I remember I read once with my husband. I didn't like the tape ... I tried to make the self-tape twice and I wasn't happy with it."
Luckily, the casting directors saw something in her tape for Marian and they asked her to try reading for Gladys. "I was happy to have a second shot with Gladys and that taped in two seconds and I was like, 'Oh, I know this girl. She's so many versions of 16, 17-year-old Taissa,'" Farmiga explained.
The actress likes playing darker characters because they don't match her personality
Taissa Farmiga is a pretty carefree, easygoing person — but you wouldn't guess it watching her movies. "I'm a very happy person, I'm a very light person, and the characters I play tend to be so the opposite of that," she told BUILD Series. Farmiga went on to explain that playing darker characters gave her an opportunity to explore some less prominent parts of her personality. "I feel like it's always been a good way for me to discover myself and discover different parts of my personality through playing these different characters, and I just tend to — in my work life — I like to dive into things that are deeper," she said.
Even though Farmiga plays characters that are much darker than she is, she still has a sweetness in common with a lot of her characters. "I feel like a lot of the characters I've played have showed the kind-hearted part of my personality," she told Collider. Now, she's interested in exploring the "vulgar" side of her personality — and we can't wait to see it!
How Taissa Farmiga really feels about co-star Carrie Coon
In "The Gilded Age," Taissa Farmiga plays Gladys, the daughter of Carrie Coon's Mrs. Russell. In the show, Mrs. Russell is a total force. And by the sounds of things, Coon is pretty impressive herself. In fact, as Farmiga told Digital Spy, Coon quickly became a life-changing figure in her life.
"Oh my god, oh my god. I adore Carrie Coon," she gushed. "I don't think I have enough positive things to say about her ... she'll bust your balls, and then also compliment you." Apparently, Coon was always kind, but she was never too easy on Farmiga — which helped the young actress to grow every day on set. "I think that Carrie bettered me as an actress, being able to go toe to toe with someone who was so talented, and also so real, and always so present," Farmiga explained. Sounds like this is one co-star Farmiga will not be forgetting any time soon.
Taissa Farmiga was actually freaked out while filming The Nun
If you've seen "The Nun," you won't need to be reminded about how terrifying it is. In the movie, Taissa Farmiga plays a young nun who gets visions of a terrifying, supernatural nun who whispers to her. Even though Farmiga was actually in the movie, she still found herself becoming scared.
"I have to admit, there was a time or two when we were filming in these dark castles, and this specific scene was lit only by a candle," she told CinemaBlend. "And Bonnie is in full demon nun garb, hair, and makeup, and I had to ask her to just step away for a moment." Apparently, Bonnie Aarons, who played the spooky nun, would sometimes freak Farmiga out when she was just sitting around on set waiting to do her scenes. "I was like, 'Bonnie, I love you, but I'm just not going to look at you right now. It's too much,'" recalled Farmiga. And looking back at this super scary film, we can hardly blame her for getting scared!
She enjoyed changing things up with The Gilded Age
Usually, Taissa Farmiga appears in projects set in the modern day. So, starring in HBO's "The Gilded Age," which is set in the 1880s, was a big departure for her. Farmiga explained in a 2022 interview, "It's — I want to be careful about the word 'better' because it's not better — it's different. I think what you get excited about as a human is new experience."
As Farmiga went on to note, getting new experiences in her career is something she's always looking for. "I love new experiences and trying new things." For Farmiga, diving into the time period of "The Gilded Age" opened her eyes to a whole new period of history that she'd never had a chance to explore in her previous projects. She even had to learn a new dialect for the role. "It's nice to flex your wings in a different way," she said.
For Taissa Farmiga, fashion is all about female empowerment
Take a quick peek at Taissa Farmiga's Instagram page, and you'll see that the actress always has a great sense of style. She tends to prefer casual, laidback outfits in her day-to-day life — think t-shirts, jeans, and sun hats. When it comes to her red carpet looks, Farmiga opts for feminine, flowing gowns with classic cuts.
As Farmiga explained to AnOther, her fashion sense is all about comfort. "I think that, before you walk out the door and into the world, you have to feel good," she said. "You have to figure out who you are, and I think fashion can help you do that." Ultimately, feeling comfortable and looking great — whether she's in casual or fancy clothes — helps Farmiga feel empowered and strong. "When you have more of a sense of who you are, you can take on the world," she said.
Despite her past work, she is not a big fan of horror movies
Having taken on roles in several horror movies and TV shows, it would be fair to say that Taissa Farmiga is something of a scream queen. However, even though Farmiga enjoys acting in horror films, she is not a fan of watching them. "I do not like horror movies," Farmiga told IndieWire. "I always had an amazing time on 'American Horror Story,' [but] it actually helped me discover that I'm a very scared person. I'm very jumpy, I scare very easily." While her natural fear makes it easy for her to play scared characters, it also means that she avoids watching scary movies whenever she can.
In an interview with Daily Dead, she even explained that she sometimes became so scared that she couldn't sleep after watching a scary movie. Instead, she prefers to watch comedies. "If I sit down to watch TV, I want something light. I want something easy," she said to BUILD Series. Since Farmiga hates watching horror so much, we wouldn't be too surprised if she avoids watching many of her own movies!