Kevin Winter/Getty Images Vera Farmiga.Vera Farmiga, a star of films like “Up in the Air,†“The Departed†and “Source Code,†was nominated on Thursday for an Emmy for lead actress in a drama series for “Bates Motel.†On that A&E thriller, Ms. Farmiga plays Norma Bates, the mother of the troubled teenager Norman Bates, who we know will some day grow up to be the twisted murderer of “Psycho.†Here in excerpts from the conversation, Ms. Farmiga talks about her nomination and the joys of motherhood, both authentic and fictitious.
I've always wanted to say this: Good morning, Mother.
Indeed, it is. I'm tickled hot pink this morning.
This role has obviously worked out well for you, but when you were approached about an episodic TV series and the kinds of commitments those involve, were you the least bit hesitant?
Not at all. I love this character. And I look at characters the way my 4-year-old son looks at Legos. He doesn't want the janky Duplos for 2-year-olds. He wants the 2,503-piece collector's item Imperial shuttle with the rotating double-laser wing-cannons. And Norma Bates is the Imperial shuttle. There was no second-guessing it. When someone gives you that gift, that richness of character, you thank them very much and you grab at it.
But the converse of that - you're an accomplished motion-picture actress, so does this point to a paucity of good roles for women in movies?
I'm not sure if it does. [pauses] In film, yeah, I think it's rare. Just judging from my experience, I've had to work harder in fully dimensionalizing female roles in film. Not in independent film but certainly in mainstream Hollywood pictures. It's always a roll-up-your-sleeves job in studio films.
Now that you've spent a whole year under the skin of Norma, what have you found that you didn't know about her already? What do you like about this sordid and complicated person?
It's become less sordid for me, and I really have found a definitive compassion for her and all mothers - especially single parents - that have mentally dysfunctioning children. Add to it her own psychosis and history. Whether it's, you name it, bipolar disorder, schizo-affective disorder, schizophrenia, any disorder - no parent can utter the words, “My child has a mental illness,†without their spirit imploding. And I have a huge compassion for my character. She doesn't always make the right choices but I know it genuinely stems from an authentic maternal love, and there's just no greater love. I adore her.
When you get a break, do you want to take a week where you just watch Disney movies and immerse yourself in a world of pure joy?
There's no break. I just came back from shooting “The Judge†with Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. That was a smashing summer. There's no rest for me. But I have a 2- and a 4-year-old, so I have no choice but to take those moments. I'm constantly doing the zip-line at the local Vancouver park with them, backwards. So I have that, every second of my life, because of the two wacky toddlers.
