Getting to know some of Orphan's talent ~ Miley Cyrus meets the 'orphan'

October 30, 4:31 PMActing ExaminerDeborah Smith Ford

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Orphan             (Photo/courtesy Warner Bros.)

In time for Halloween, Orphan is out on Blu-ray (Warner Blu).  There is no pressure here to purchase it, just reporting that it is available now on Blu-ray and giving some background on its talent. 

The film is a 2009 American horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard and Isabelle Fuhrman. The film centers on a couple who adopts a child after the death of their own unborn child.

The adopted child is hiding a dark secret behind her sweet façade. Orphan was produced by Joel Silver and Susan Downey of Dark Castle Entertainment and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran of Appian Way Productions. The film was released theatrically in the United States on July 24, 2009.
 

A sneak peak at the plot - Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard) are experiencing strains in their marriage after Kate's third child was stillborn. The loss is particularly hard on Kate, who is still recovering from a drinking habit that cost her her job.

While visiting the local orphanage, the parents decide to adopt Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a nine-year-old Russian girl. While Kate and John's daughter Max (Aryana Engineer), who is deaf and communicates with sign language, embraces Esther almost immediately, their son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) is somewhat less welcoming.

Vera Ann Farmiga (Kate) is an actress, best known for her roles in the films Running Scared, The Departed, and now Orphan.

Actress Farmiga was raised in a Ukrainian American community, not speaking English until the age of six. She attended a Ukrainian Catholic school in Newark and toured with a Ukrainian folk-dancing ensemble.

Originally Vera Ann Farmiga intended to become an optometrist, but instead attended Syracuse University's School of Visual and Performing Arts. She made her Broadway debut in 1996 as an understudy in the play Taking Sides.

Farmiga starred as Miranda in the American Conservatory Theater production of The Tempest. Following her theater debut, she played a role the television series, Roar, which was filmed in Australia, alongside Heath Ledger. Farmiga said:

The series wanted to be Braveheart but turned out more Xena: Warrior Princess."

Farmiga appeared in several high profile films in the early 2000s, including Autumn in New York, 15 Minutes and the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Her lead performance in the 2005 film Down to the Bone received a "Best Actress" award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. In 2006, she appeared in Running Scared.

Rather than attending auditions for films in which she is interested, Farmiga makes short films which she submits for casting.  Her take on such films:

To fade in and fade out, have intimacy with the mikes, the lighting, and have the luxury of takes - you could make yourself as ugly or as beautiful as you wanted." - Farmiga

It was one of these audition films that led Farmiga to director Scorsese to invite her for what she calls 'a chemistry read' with Leonardo DiCaprio, which led to her role as a police psychiatrist in The Departed. Farmiga also starred in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as the wife of a Nazi commandant, played by David Thewlis.

In 2008 Farmiga played the role of Erica Van Doren in the political thriller, Nothing But the Truth, for which she has been nominated as Best Supporting Actress in the 2009 Critics Choice Awards.

Farmiga is currently starring in Up in the Air alongside George Clooney, Anna Kendrick and Melanie Lynskey. ~ More horror genre: paranormal activity, Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween III

Isabelle Fuhrman (Esther) loved acting from a young age. She takes acting seriously and has said that she plans to stay in the acting business for a long time. In an interview, Fuhrman said:

I really "became" Esther, and that something made me want to play Esther." - Fuhrman

Fuhrman has appeared in many TV shows, commercials, comedy skits, movies, and the cartoon network's cartoon fridays. One of Fuhrman's favorite actresses is Audrey Hepburn (her life story).

Other film credits of Fuhrman's include "Grasshopper" in the 2007 film Hounddog, the role of Gretchen Dennis (aka Girl Ghost) opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt on the hit TV show Ghost Whisperer, Grace O'Neil in the pilot episode of the 2006 television series Justice, and a number of national commercials like Pizza Hut and K-Mart.

When Miley Cyrus met actress Isabelle Fuhrman, who portrays the scary orphan Esther, she had this to say about Isabelle's performance:

(Photo/wiki)

...you are so talented, and you nailed it..." - Miley Cyrus