Accomplished actress Vera Farmiga is no stranger to the camera, whether on television or on the big screen. In her most recent project, premiering at Sundance 2011, Farmiga not only shows off her elegance and strong characterization on-screen, but also in the director’s seat. The film is Higher Ground, the story of a woman named Corrine’s struggle to find her faith. Her quest is complicated by a romance with a young guitarist full of earnest idealssome of which Corrine does not share.Born in Clifton, New Jersey, Farmiga wasn’t originally an actor. While attending a Ukrainian Catholic school, she toured as part of a folk-dancing ensemble, and later planned on becoming an ophthalmologist. However, she instead attended Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts and debuted on Broadway as an understudy for the play Taking Sides. She also starred as Katlynn in Fox’s short-lived historical fantasy, Roar (which also starred a young Heath Ledger).While much of Farmiga’s early work was in romantic comedies (Autumn in New York, Love in the Time of Money, Dummy), she also had some darker roles (a murder witness in 2001′s 15 Minutes, a drug addict in 2005′s Down to the Bone). For her work in Down to the Bone, she was nominated for “Best Actress” by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and “Best Female Lead” by the Independent Spirit Awards, among others. Recently, she’s appeared in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (with Leonardo DiCaprio), Joshua (with Sam Rockwell), Nothing But the Truth (with Matt Dillon and Kate Beckinsale), and Up in the Air (with George Clooney, and one of her biggest box office successes). However, Farmiga seems destined to remain in the “Now where have I seen her before?” category.This seems to be doing nothing to diminish Farmiga’s prospects, howeverindeed, she is being increasingly recognized by critics as a consistently strong performer. Rest assured that her new stab at directing isn’t signaling a retirement from acting. Among her upcoming projects is a role in Duncan Jones’s Moon follow-up, Source Code, also starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan. She’s also slated to appear in an upcoming film adaptation of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge.