Vera Farmiga Q&A

by Helen Earnshaw | 20 May 2010

Vera Farmiga landed an Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as Alex in Jason Reitman's lat movie Up In The Air.

The film saw her star alongside George Clooney and Anna Kendrick, both of whom were also nominated at the Oscars.

- Hi Vera. What was it about the script that made you want to work on Up in the Air?

I love characters that are icky and gooey and utterly human. Jason (Reitman) is a pro at writing them. These are the types of characters Jason is known for writing. That’s what drives me and the type of stories I’m drawn to. I like characters with quirks.

- Jason has said he does not judge the characters in his films. Your character, Alex, is quite promiscuous. Did you judge her morals?

No. You can’t. You have to defend the character. You have to look at her and find something to defend about her. You have to be like an appointed lawyer defending someone in front of a jury. That’s what we do.

- Did you like Alex?

I liked her finesse and ease which she glides through life. Someone will make a comment about her age, but she doesn’t take it seriously. She’s sexy, smart and elegant.

- She’s in control.

Yes, she’s in control in part. She’s in control of the facet of the life that we see in the movie. In other parts of her life? I don’t know.

That’s interesting to me to consider when I was building the character. She may be totally out of control in her home environment.

- How much do you rely on a director to help you with the characters you play?

Quite a lot. I rely on my director... I rely on them to get my hand out of the bag tricks actors have.

- Bag of tricks?

The things we have been praised for by critics and the audience for past roles, we tend to fall back on them. Sometimes it is great for a director to pat that away and maneuver you into a different way. I’m very collaborative. I don’t have a rigid idea.

- What new tricks did you learn from working on Up in the Air?

Hopefully I didn’t. Tricks are a negative thing for me.

- What things did Jason add to your performance?

Well, my background is the Ukraine. I’m Slavic. I can be very Chekhovian. I can be indulgent in emotion. If you came to a dinner with my family we are crying and laughing in the same sentence. For example, the very impersonal scene in the parking garage on the cell phone where I have to deliver news to Ryan.

Jason was really adamant about me being unapologetic. My instinct was to let Ryan know what we had was the real thing. Jason was like, ‘It doesn’t matter. They set up rules. He broke the rules. It doesn’t matter’. That’s the point of the scene.

Jason said ‘I want you to be like a man’. Jason gave me that direction. All of Jason’s characters are treading this precarious line.

Anna’s character is seeking perfection, but her philosophy is preaching to fire people over the internet. His characters do that. They are wishy washy and contradictory.

- What was it like playing a character with masculine emotional characteristics?

I didn’t really see her as masculine or feminine. I saw her as human. I don’t know why Alex does what she does.

I was always pestering Jason with questions like ‘Is she unsatisfied? Is she insatiable?’ Jason would say ‘It doesn’t matter’. I was like ‘It doesn’t matter? Why doesn’t it matter?’ (laughs)

- Did you fill the holes? Did you come up with a back-story for Alex?

I’d be lying if I said I came up with a specific back-story. It is reason enough to know she needs more than what she has. For whatever reason, who knows? She’s unapologetic. The thing is to respect her on that and for the world to accommodate her wishes.

- What has been the reaction to Alex from female audience members?

I’m surprised. We took it to the Toronto Film Festival and had many question and answer sessions with audiences elsewhere.

European men are not afraid to come up to me. American men, half of them look at me and stay clear across the room and the other half come over and say I should have blonde hair.

Always women come to me and say they are pleased with the character. I thought it would be different. They treat her as a heroine of sorts.

- Why do you think that is the case?

I think the women who come to me are mothers, wives and career women who cater to everybody’s wishes and desires but their own. When they see a woman on the screen who says ‘This is my time and this is what I need’ and don’t apologise for it, they relate to it.

- What drives you career-wise?

It has changed since I became a mother. It is storytelling. My grandfather was the best storyteller ever. He had big whiskers and moustache and I would love watching his whiskers move as he told me stories.

He was really animated and would hold me and tell stories. I loved it. It ignited my imagination. I also grew up in a structured and conservative household and I wondered how other people lived and thought and their ideas and philosophies. That’s what drives me, telling stories.

- What was the best thing about working on Up in the Air?

The absolute pleasure of working with George Clooney. They broke the mold when they made him. He’s a keeper.

- Do you like air travel?

I get asked that a lot and I used to say I hate it and how tough it is travelling with my young son who is teething. But, now I think about how I can use the frequent flyer points from travelling so much to buy my Dad tickets.

My Dad hadn’t been on flights for 30 years. I love travelling. I like getting there and then exploring, but flying definitely beats the horse and buggy.

Up In The Air is released on DVD 24th May.