The casting of Taissa Farmiga as Sister Irene in The Nun means that The Conjuring franchise really now has become a family affair.
That’s because Taissa’s older sister Vera has played Lorraine Warren in “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2,” a role she’ll reprise in the third installment when it is eventually released.
The fact that Taissa and Vera are siblings made me wonder if that had played a factor in the younger Farmiga’s casting in “The Nun.”
That was a question I recently had for its director Corin Hardy, who insisted, “It genuinely was that she was ultimately the best actress for the part. It is uncanny how much she also resembles Vera in some of the scenes, though.”
“We were initially looking to cast a European actress.” Hardy continued. “Or an English actress as Sister Irene. I was looking at hundreds of auditions, some really, really strong ones.”
“There was a top 5 and Taissa was someone, because she was Vera’s sister, I had initially put her to the side. Because we thought it would be too obvious to cast her.”
“But her audition was so unique and powerful and she has a different kind of presence to any of the other actors. I just felt instantly confident that she was the only person that could play that role.”
As you’d expect Hardy only had praise for Taissa’s co-star in “The Nun,” too, as he waxed lyrical about what Demian Bichir brought to the film as Father Burke.
“I felt very lucky, because Demian Bichir was our first choice. I was a big fan of him since seeing him in ‘Che,’ the Steven Soderbergh movie where he played Fidel Castro.”
“We wanted to get the best actors we could. And we thought Demian could make Burke a chiseled, ‘Dirty Harry’ type Exorcist character. So I was thrilled to get him.”
“The Nun” is now in cinemas.
