Vera Farmiga

Born: 6 August 1973
Where: New Jersey, USA

The actress delivered her breakthrough performance as a a witness who falls for Ed Burns' investigating detective in 15 Minutes.

The daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, she did not learn English until she was six while she lived in a Eastern European enclave in New Jersey.

After studying at Hunterdon Central Regional High School, she attended Syracuse University.

She began her professional acting career in the mid-1990s counting among her credits performances in stage productions of The Tempest and Hamlet.

Appearing both on and off-Broadway, she followed with several TV roles, before making her big screen debut in 1998 in the drama Return to Paradise.

In 2000, she appeared with Christopher Walken in The Opportunists and alongside Richard Gere in Autumn in New York.

The following year she landed the role of Czech girl Daphne Handlovar in 15 Minutes and followed that with the independent Dummy opposite Adrien Brody.

In 2004, she starred in the comedy drama Mind The Gap and also featured in the remake of the Cold War thriller The Manchurian Candidate.

Recent work includes Wayne Kramer's ultra-violent thriller Running Scared opposite Paul Walker.