American Horror Story star unrecognisable in hit Sky period drama
She was once known as Violet Harmon in the first season of American Horror Story. Now, Taissa Farmiga has traded Violet's whimsical streak for Gladys Russell's socialite status.
George and Bertha Russell's marriage is hanging by a fragile thread in the third season of The Gilded Age - but one of the show's stars originally shot to fame with several appearances in American Horror Story.
Taissa Farmiga portrays socialite Gladys Russell in The Gilded Age, originally aired on HBO. In its third series, due on Sky, Gladys has to face the aftermath of her parents' choice to promise her hand in marriage to the Duke of Buckingham. But will she go through with the nuptials?
This remains to be seen. But, back in 2011, shortly after debuting her acting career in High Ground, Taissa starred in the first season of American Horror Story as Violet Harmon, the daughter of Vivien (Connie Britton) and Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott).
Violet's story ended in tragedy as she committed suicide, joining her killer boyfriend Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) in the afterlife - but Taissa still reprised the role in the eighth season of American Horror Story. She even appeared in the anthology series as two different characters - Sophie Green and Zoe Benson.
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Now starring in The Gilded Age, Taissa admitted that she had to delve deep into the Downton Abbey universe to nail Gladys' role. "I started watching Downton Abbey because I thought 'I have to brush up,'" she told producer Joshua Horowitz in 2023 on his podcast Happy Sad Confused.
But when she first auditioned for Gladys, Taissa was honest - she wasn't a fan of period dramas. "During my audition, they asked me if I was passionate about period pieces," she remembered, joking later: "I told them, 'I don't know. I'm a stoner, I watch Rick and Morty.'"
Growing up, Taissa was the youngest in a family of six children and watched her older sister Vera Farmiga rise to fame through her roles in The Conjuring franchise, Orphan and even Bates Motel. But she had no intentions of following in her footsteps.
Instead, Taissa dreamed of being an accountant - until Vera convinced her to appear in her directorial debut drama, Higher Ground. "I was thrown into this world," Taissa once told Yahoo Movies in 2015.
The experience was enough for her to change trajectory completely. "After Higher Ground about six months went by and I went back to my normal life," Taissa said.
"I was looking at community college classes for accounting. I wasn't jumping right into it, thinking, 'I have to be an actress.'" And the rest was history.
Since then, Taissa has bagged a multitude of roles in feature films and series alike. She was notably seen in The Bling Ring with Emma Watson, The Nun franchise as Sister Irene Palmer and even in The Twilight Zone.
Taissa is also very active on social media, particularly on Instagram, where she's followed diligently by 1.9 million admirers. The 30-year-old shares everything - from snaps on set and on the red carpet, to her trips with producer husband Hadley Klein.
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