You know Siobhan Fallon Hogan from 'Forrest Gump' and 'Men in Black.' Here's why the character actress is taking center stage in new film 'Shelter in Solitude.'
In her long career, Hogan has worked with some of Hollywood's biggest names.
You may hear there are no people of faith in Hollywood. Actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who you might recognize from her work in such memorable films as Forrest Gump and Men in Black, says that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, Hogan tells Yahoo Entertainment that being a practicing Catholic in the entertainment industry isn't the false dichotomy that its made out to be.
"So many people say, 'Well, I mean, how do you do it? Is it really hard?' And I'm like, not really!" says the actress, writer and producer, 62, who is often associated with her Catholic faith in news coverage. "If you're honest to yourself, you don't have to go around carrying a sign, like, I am this religion or that religion. I care about my work, but I don't care about what other people think of me. I don't dislike anyone because of their religion. I think that is what makes the world interesting. I think that there's room for everybody in the entertainment industry."
In Hogan's new film Shelter in Solitude, which hits streaming platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube on Thursday, she plays a washed-up wannabe country singer who finds herself serving as the prison guard for a local hero turned death row inmate 10 days before his planned execution. The idea to write the film, which co-stars Terminator 2: Judgement Day's Robert Patrick, came to Hogan in the middle of the night. She says it's not the traditional story of a privileged hero swooping in to save the day.
"This woman comes in kind of hoping to be the savior," she explains, adding that while she "does not believe in the death penalty," the film isn't a traditional commentary on capital punishment. "It's a commentary on the death penalty in that, does a man like that want to talk to a woman? No, he doesn't want to talk to her."
The production was a family affair, with Hogan's husband serving as a producer, her daughter Sinead as a production designer and her son, Peter, as the music supervisor. Filmed in just 16 days in 2021 in upstate New York, Hogan says the experience was a bit like "the von Trapp traveling singers, except we're on planes going from Los Angeles to Nashville to New Jersey to upstate New York, to keep promoting it and getting people to see it and word of mouth and social media."
Working to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry fueled Hogan's hustle. While she's scored roles in some of the most beloved films and television shows throughout history, the jobs weren't always plentiful.
"In my 20s, I was weird-looking, I'm still weird-looking. I had a really deep voice. I'd go to auditions, and they'd be like, 'You're gonna grow into your look, and you're gonna work a lot in your 40s.' To tell someone that in their 20s, that seems like an eternity away," Hogan laughs. "Now I'm like, I wish I was in my 40s!"
She started writing the characters she hoped to be cast as — and soon started seeing the fruits of her labor.
"I got on Seinfeld and Saturday Night Live because of it," she says.
One of her first jobs was on The Golden Girls in 1990, playing a co-worker of Betty White. Thinking she had hit the big time, she closed out her week on the set by giving White and her co-stars an issue of TV Guide on which they were featured — but Hogan cut out a hole and taped her face in one of the photos as a closing night gift.
"I thought I was like, part of the team," she says. "I was so stupid."
Since then, Hogan has worked with some of Hollywood's biggest names.
In Forrest Gump, she played the school bus driver opposite Tom Hanks. "They had no idea that it was going to be that big of a hit," she recalls of the Oscar-winning film, saying Hanks is always "so fun." As Beatrice in Men in Black, she says Will Smith was "a great improviser."
But one of the stars who left a lasting impression on Hogan was the late Matthew Perry, with whom she acted in the 1997 romantic comedy Fools Rush In, also starring Salma Hayek.
"Matthew was hilarious and really great. A lot of people who are great TV actors aren't great film actors, and vice versa. And he was great," Hogan says. "He was such a talent."
Shelter in Solitude is available to stream on Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube on Dec. 14.
