Why Eleanor From Hawkeye Looks So Familiar
Marvel's "Hawkeye" is finally here, giving fans their first real look at the new MCU partnership between Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). The Disney+ series follows the two archers on a street-level adventure through New York City during the Christmas season, as they face off against the Tracksuit Mafia and unearth an intriguing conspiracy involving Kate's mother and her soon-to-be stepfather (Tony Dalton). In other words, while the scale of "Hawkeye" is a little smaller than Marvel's previous Disney+ shows, like "WandaVision" and "Loki," it fits Jeremy Renner's Clint better than any multiverse-level shenanigans ever would.
Taking cues from Matt Fraction and David Aja's acclaimed 2012 comics run, the series also works as a way of introducing Steinfeld's Kate Bishop into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and possibly setting up her to take over the Hawkeye mantle for Clint. As a result, the two have an interesting relationship together on-screen, with Kate even donning the Ronin outfit that Clint wore while brutally wiping out numerous criminal organizations during the five years between "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame."
Obviously, Kate's decision to wear the Ronin suit puts her in a dangerous situation, which even starts to spill over into her personal life and will likely end up pulling her mother, Eleanor Bishop, into the fray as well. But if you're watching "Hawkeye" and wondering why Eleanor looks so familiar, it's because she's played by none other than Vera Farmiga.
In case her name isn't instantly recognizable for you, here are a few projects you might remember her from.
Vera Farmiga starred as Madolyn in The Departed
In 2005, Vera Farmiga worked with director Martin Scorsese on his Boston gangster flick, "The Departed." The film, which is a remake of 2002's "Infernal Affairs," follows two police officers on opposite sides of the law: William Costigan Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mole working inside the gang run by Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a mob rat operating as a police officer. For her part, Farmiga plays Dr. Madolyn Madden, a psychiatrist Costigan speaks to about the pressures of being a mole in the mob. They quickly grow quite close, despite her being in a relationship with Sullivan.
Farmiga gives a great performance in the film, bringing more than enough ferocity to ensure that she holds her own opposite proven performers like DiCaprio and Damon. Some of the scenes where Madolyn talks to Costigan about his struggles, for instance, are brilliantly and vibrantly tense. To top things off: Madolyn's ultimately the one who points Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) in Sullivan's direction at the end of the film — opening the door for its violent final scene to take place.
Vera Farmiga plays Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring series
One of the roles Vera Farmiga is best known for is Lorraine Warren, a paranormal investigator in the "Conjuring" franchise. As Lorraine, Farmiga investigates ghouls, spirits, and demons that have found their way into our world with the help of her husband Ed (Patrick Wilson). Farmiga first stepped into the role in 2013's "The Conjuring," which sees the duo investigating a family's claims that they're being haunted by malevolent spirits.
Farmiga and Wilson are the faces of the franchise, and they've gone up against a number of otherworldly forces across several "Conjuring" films to date. 2016's "The Conjuring 2," for instance, is based on the real-life events of the Enfield haunting, while "The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It" examines the trial of Arne Johnson in 1981.
While the series is known for its incredibly intense jump scares, Farmiga's performance — and her chemistry with Patrick Wilson — helps bring some much-needed humanity and warmth to the franchise. Indeed, it's the enduring nature of Lorraine and Ed's relationship that helps make their adventures in the "Conjuring" series so consistently compelling to watch.
She played Norman Bates' mother in Bates Motel
Vera Farmiga hasn't just showcased her incredible talent on the big screen. In fact, she's already proved that she can impress on the small screen too, thanks to her work in A&E's "Bates Motel." In the drama series, Farmiga plays Norma Bates, the doomed mother of legendary "Psycho" villain, Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore). Set years before the events of "Psycho," the show follows Norman Bates as he slowly becomes the serial killer so many audiences know him to be.
Thankfully, the series doesn't just stay in the Bates Motel for all five of its seasons, with the nearby town of White Pine Bay holding plenty of intriguing secrets below its surface. Farmiga's Norma, meanwhile, emerges as a bit of a tortured soul, and the star does plenty with the role. She has excellent on-screen chemistry with Freddie Highmore, whose performance only gets increasingly deranged as more time passes.
At the time of this writing, "Bates Motel" currently holds a 93% Tomatometer rating and 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's an underrated gem that's definitely worthy of more attention than it typically gets these days.
She appeared as Dr. Emma Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse has emerged as a staple of the Hollywood blockbuster scene in the years since the release of 2014's "Godzilla." The studio followed up that film with 2017's "Kong: Skull Island" and 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" before pitting King Kong and Godzilla against deach other earlier this year in "Godzilla vs. Kong." However, in "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," Vera Farmiga helped push the franchise to new heights as Dr. Emma Russell, the inventor of a machine called the Orca.
The Orca uses different frequencies to call Titans, or control the way they behave, which is why eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) partners up with her. Emma's arc in the film is complicated because she believes she's doing the right thing for her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), but ultimately causes more harm than good.
The film didn't receive an overwhelmingly positive critical response when it was released, and it currently holds a 42% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Thrillist's Esther Zuckman noted in their review that they were impressed with the whole cast of "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," but felt like the film's actors were lost in a sea of monster madness, writing, "The cast is stacked with otherwise brilliant actors stuck in a borderline incomprehensible plot and forced to play second fiddle to monsters whose powers of wonder wear off fast."
Here's to hoping that Vera Farmiga's character in "Hawkeye" doesn't cause nearly as much damage as Emma Russell did in "King of the Monsters."