Vera Farmiga

Vera Farmiga breathes life into a character we previously only knew as a bunch of bones. All of Norman’s weirdness and pathos make perfect sense next to her portrayal as his mother, Norma Bates. With such an iconic role to play, it would have been understandable if Farmiga had turned Norma into a campy, horror flick character. But thankfully, we get so much more than that. She’s as compassionate as she is neurotic, and sometimes, we recognize enough of ourselves in her to ratchet up the creepiness factor several degrees on this modern-day take on “Psycho.”