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Interview with Vera Farmiga: A Shining Star with я Ukrainian Glow Those of you who were fortunate enough to attend the XXVII UNWLA Convention in Albany, New York, in 2005, may recall that Vera Farmiga was one of the recipients of UNWLA’s Young Women Achievers Award. Since that time, Ms. Farmiga has enjoyed much success and media attention as an “up and coming” actress. She was featured on the front cover of the September 2006 edition of NY Times Magazine, which contained an in-depth article about her achievements. Another flattering article about her was published in the New York Post on January 22, 2007. On January 26, 2007, the McClatchy-Tribune Information Services wrote, “Farmiga has arrived. . . ” Earlier this year (January 18), she appeared on the late-night “David Letterman Show. ” The film industry’s recognition for her work includes several prestigious awards: She was named the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actress in 2005 and the Marrakech International Film Festival’s Best Actress for 2004. She also won the coveted Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize in 2004. Vera graciously agreed to participate in an e-mail interview with me, as her schedule would make telephone or personal communication quite difficult. As this interview reveals, she is committed to her craft and she credits her background and upbringing for much of her talent and resolve. The exchange between interviewer and interviewee also reveals the very personal face of a very public persona. I thank Vera for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions and for her openness. I hope readers enjoy learning about this fascinating woman as much as I did. —Marianna Zajac Vera, why and how did you choose your career path? What motivated you? Do you feel your ethnic Ukrainian background has helped you down this path? As far as my career path, two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I was gently nudged onto the color ful one. I grew up in a joyful, creative household. Music and dance shook the house every holiday, on birthdays, any excuse to celebrate, whip out the instru ments, harmonize and wiggle. My earliest memories are of my “Vuyko Andrij” teaching my cous ins to jam with their “guitarras” as my cousin Nana and I jigged and sang "Zhovti chobitochky, ska- choot krai do richky, syni chobi tochky, tse ye Viry nizhky,1 la la la la laaaaa la. ..." Being involved in the Ukrainian community—from Pani Marta Savitsky's creative preschooling to reciting “ukrayinski virshi”2 at St. Loosely translated: Little yellow boots, jumping almost to the lake, little blue boots, these are Vera’s feet. 2 Ukrainian poems. Vera and her grandmother Nadia Spas at the XXVII UNWLA Convention in Albany, New York John’s Ukrainian Catholic School in Newark to enacting skits around the bonfire at Plast Tabir and “Svyato Vesny” to years of piano lessons under the tutelage of Pani Halya Klym to dancing hutsulkas and hopaks with the Syzokryli Dance Ensemble— all gave me a strong foundation of creativity and nurtured my development as an artist.
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