Moving To Higher Ground: Academy Award-Nominated Actress Vera Farmiga is Now a Director.

Academy Award-Nominated Actress Vera Farmiga is now a Director. Her career has taken off. In 2009, Ukrainian-American actress Vera Farmiga, 38, was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “Up in the Air” in a role that gave her the upper hand to George Clooney. That same year, she also starred opposite Peter Sarsgaard in the dark thriller, “Orphan.” Her first big studio film was 2006’s “The Departed” where she played love interest to hunky leading men Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. This year Farmiga has joined that very small world of female movie directors with“Higher Ground” (release date: August 12th). Not only was she directing for the first time, she was also four months pregnant when the project began. The movie premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was included in New York’s Tribeca Film Festival.

The film asks if it is possible for faith and doubt to coexist. Though the story is centered on a Christian fundamentalist religion, “Higher Ground” is not about the rights and wrongs of different faiths. “The film is about the moments in life where you lose sight of who you are,” Farmiga said, “and what you believe in, and where you are going. It’s about finding your footing during those moments of stumbling in life. ‘Higher Ground’ shows that it’s okay to fall short, to be inadequate. It’s okay to be afraid and have doubt because there will be a path through. You possess all you need to draw yourself up to a higher ground, to your highest self.”

The movie embraces the gray area within the black and white rules of religion. Farmiga’s character, Corinne, struggles with relationships—her parents, friends, husband, children, God, and herself. “The examination of these relationships,” Farmiga said, “proves how porous and murky a spiritual path can be at times. It explores a notion I’ve experienced my whole life—that spiritual life is hard to master. Great faith requires great striving.”

Farmiga walked into our Soho meeting looking even more beautiful than I expected. She seemed right out of an Ivory soap commercial, with little makeup and the look of a farm girl with a complexion of fresh air, good food and innocence. Her azure eyes were ethereal and her smile natural. She exuded kindness and grace and appeared eager to talk about the film.

Dorri Olds: When did you first decide you wanted to direct ‘Higher Ground?’

Vera Farmiga: I had a deep affection for the story and became attached to the movie first as an actress. A man named Tim Metcalfe introduced me to the script. He had co-written it with Carolyn Briggs. But when the project wasn’t going in the direction that I wanted it to, I removed myself. Metcalfe didn’t want me to back out so he suggested I take more control and make it the movie I envisioned. So I did.

DO: What is the main message of ‘Higher Ground?’

VF: The film is about yearning on the deepest level. Yearning for a sense of a genuine self, a good self. It’s about holiness.

DO: Did you draw from any other films when you directed it?

VF: ‘The Apostle’ was a good reference for me. I have a deep respect for many faiths and have no axe to grind with any. I was not interested in proselytizing or trying to convert anyone. Nor did I want to make fun of any religion.

DO: The movie depicts a religious fanaticism though.

VF: Yes, the religion in the movie has a fanatical fundamental approach.

DO: Was it a strange transition to go from actress to director?

VF: It was a challenge compressing the book’s 20 years of life down to movie length. I also learned that ego must be kept in check, both on the set and with your audience. It’s an interesting balance not to take audiences as dunces. You don’t have to spell it all out. I decided to use the novel as a springboard. I was intrigued by creating a representation of the book’s strong female friendship. I had the right actress for Annika. Dagmara Dominczyk played the kind of strong woman you want to be—seductive, Mother Earth, voluptuous. The character made no apology for who she was. She was just Annika.

DO: Was it difficult to make the toe-sucking scene between your character Corinne and her best friend Annika?

VF: It was hard to keep a straight face! We used pink frosting from cupcakes which tasted great. We were acting out Corinne’s sensory fantasies. They were therapeutic during her pregnancy. My pregnancy progressed as it did for the character. I was five months pregnant when we wrapped. We shot the whole film in 26 days.  It was amazing. But it was hard enough for me to never want to do that again!

DO: Were you concerned about how to handle the touchy subject of religion?

VF: I love to see spirituality in films no matter what religion. Right now there is a surge of this topic. It’s like a Y2K feeling around 2012. The economic crash of 2008 forced people to reexamine themselves. Movies I’m most drawn to are about awakening—like Alice in Wonderland falling down a rabbit hole and meeting a whole new world.

DO: How were the actors chosen for ‘Higher Ground?’

VF: I was able to get every actor I wanted. I had tremendous control over casting. I knew I wanted to be surrounded by the right people; that it would make my job easier. I wanted people around me who had a commitment to artistic integrity. During the time of filming my sister Taissa was 15. She’s the runt of us 7 kids. Taissa wasn’t looking to be an actress. Another one of my sisters had a cameo at the beginning. In the scene in the nursing home I used our real grandma who has dementia and speaks in Ukrainian gibberish so she was perfect to play the part of a woman in a nursing home with dementia.

DO: Many of the women in the movie seemed very passive, unliberated. Was that intentional?

VF: It was the 1970s so the characters dressed like progressive hippies but it was not a progressive time for women and equality. In the 70s women were just beginning to become pastors. During that time both men and women put women in a box—it was a certain black-and-white thinking and it wasn’t specific to faith. My character, Corinne, felt oppressed from an early age in her relationship with her mother, who was limiting and controlling. Her relationship with her best friend Annika was so delightfully opposite. When Corinne took up accordion playing it demonstrated how Annika had inspired her to take up more space in the world.

DO: What did you want the audience to know about Corinne?

VF: That she grew up with that oppression plus a huge disappointment in her parents’ love. She felt so much sadness, a yearning in her life. Always looking for a savior she was drawn to her husband Ethan and their kids, and to God and religion. But Corinne continued to feel lost and full of doubts.

DO: How was it directing your younger sister, Taissa, in a sex scene?

VF: [Vera’s face lit up] My sister is bold with moxie and she’s a very good friend to me. There’s a 21-year difference in our ages and I’ve been obsessed with photographing her since she was a baby. I love her face. It can express so much. I don’t know if she’d ever had a kiss before the movie. She’d definitely never acted before. I didn’t know it then but my producers were freaking out that I cast her without auditioning her or putting her on tape. During the filming of that sex scene there were like 40 people on set but Taissa is so open she wasn’t scared. Honestly, it was easy to direct her and pure joy for me.

DO: Who was the girl that played your toddler daughter?

VF: My son!

DO: Was it difficult to get Taissa to agree to be in the movie?

VF: She was reluctant at first but I talked her into it and now she’s signed with a big agent! My other sister in the film, Wendy, worked out great. For a lot of the cast I used local people who were perfect for their roles. I wanted to use as many locals as possible. If you are going to use non-actors it has to be because you are in a 100-mile radius from union actors and we were in the remote Mid-Hudson Valley Ulster County area of New York where I live.

DO: What are your opinions about the religion depicted in the film?

VF: I don’t want to talk too much about that. I don’t want to affect people’s experience of the film. I grew up in a household that started out Catholic then turned Christian. I don’t want to tell people what religion means to me. It’s about a fictitious character based on the book.

DO: How do you think atheists might feel about the film?

VF: I would hope they have the openness to look at the script and replace whatever opinion they have about God and religion. The story is about yearning for intimacy—with your husband, your mom, and your kids—and about a thoughtful relationship with your life and a respect for individuals who are also searching. I believe that all paths lead to God. But that means something different to everybody. Even atheists have some type of god—be it money or something else to put their faith in. They have to deal with the same issues of being real with themselves, about their life, their yearnings, disappointments and relationships.

DO: How was it working with George Clooney in “Up in the Air”?

VF: George is such a delight to be around. It is endearing that he isn’t jaded. His fame began in his 30s and yet he still acts grateful to be on a movie set. He’s always in a good mood and puts everybody else in one too. He doesn’t have a big ego and loves putting the spotlight on others. He is the epitome of how every actor should be.

DO: In the recently released sci-fi thriller, ‘Source Code’, you share the screen with Jake Gyllenhaal. How was that experience?

VF: It’s funny, we weren’t actually filming together even though it looked that way on screen. Our characters were in two different physical realities so we shot our sequences separately. But I know Jake, he’s a friend of mine and I can tell you that he is charming, sweet and generous.

DO: What’s ahead on your horizon?

VF: I take different jobs for different reasons. I’m especially drawn to Indie films. I very much enjoyed working on the recently released ‘Henry’s Crime’ which stars Keanu Reeves. And I want to direct again. Instead of waiting for the right scripts to be offered, I’ve made the choice to stop asking for permission and create the projects I want. It’s important not to take anything for granted. I count my blessings.