Vera Farmiga covers Iron Maiden's The Trooper

Vera Farmiga and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson — (Image credit: Getty)

We always suspected Vera Farmiga was a total badass, but we had no idea that she's also, apparently, a big New Wave Of British Heavy Metal fan. The Hollywood actress, perhaps most famous for her role as paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in major horror film franchise The Conjuring, has also starred in the likes of Bates Motel, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Marvel series Hawkeye.

This past weekend, though, it looks like Vera was taking on a starring role of a different kind - fronting up a heavy metal band for a cover of classic Iron Maiden banger, The Trooper. The actress was taking part in a show put on by Rock Academy - a Woodstock, New York-based music school using rock and heavy metal to bring more young people into music.

"This happened last night!" exclaimed Vera on Instagram, sharing a post featuring a video of the cover and a statement from Rock Academy that read: "Sometimes, Rock Academy lets the adults rock too. And sometimes, if you're really lucky, you get to rock out with Scott Ian."

And yes, indeed, if you look a little closer at the video, you'll notice that really is Scott Ian from Anthrax on guitar in the background. Also present was Vera's husband Renn Hawkey, who metalheads will know as keyboardist in none other than Deadsy! The dream team we never knew we needed?!

The clip also features a member of the crowd waving a Ukrainian flag in support of the country's ongoing struggle against Vladimir Putin's violent invasion. Vera herself is of Ukrainian descent.

Watch the video via Vera's Instagram page below.

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Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.