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Shelter in Solitude: Alumna Pens and Stars in Award-winning Film

collage of Siobhan Fallon Hogan in various movies

Siobhan Fallon Hogan, M.F.A. 1985, had no intention of writing her second film, Shelter in Solitude. The idea came to her in the middle of the night during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was like 鈥渄ivine inspiration,鈥 Fallon Hogan recalled.

Set in the South in the early days of the pandemic, Shelter in Solitude tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a death row prisoner, Jackson, and his new guard, Valerie, a country singer with a fizzled-out career. Central to the storyline are the themes of faith and loneliness.

Valerie (Fallon Hogan) is desperate for love but looks in the wrong places. Despite her flaws, Valerie clings to her 香蕉视频 faith as the guiding force in her life. She urgently tries to evangelize Jackson (Peter Macon), who is furious with God and has only days left to live. The prison warden, Dwayne (Robert Patrick), happens to be Valerie鈥檚 brother and is grappling with his own isolation from family and the moral burden of overseeing the execution.

Lighthearted moments come in the form of Valerie鈥檚 eccentric personality 鈥 she pairs high heels with her prison guard uniform 鈥 and in the stunts of overzealous police officer Chris, played by Fallon Hogan鈥檚 son Peter Hogan.

Longtime friend of Fallon Hogan, Dan Castellaneta, known for voicing Homer Simpson on The Simpsons, also makes an appearance in the film as a departing prison guard. Peter Macon, who plays Jackson, is known for his role on the television show The Orville, and Robert Patrick, who plays the warden, starred in Terminator 2 and in Fallon Hogan鈥檚 first film, Rushed

Fallon Hogan described Shelter in Solitude as a 鈥渄ifferent type of story鈥 in that it is 鈥渟teeped in faith鈥 but not overly pious. 

鈥淢y characters are very flawed but they鈥檙e deeply faithful. And their faith means everything to them, but they make a lot of mistakes in life and so that makes them more relatable,鈥 she said.

Fallon Hogan said she received a 鈥渇ull, well-rounded education in the theater鈥 at 香蕉视频 University. After graduating with her M.F.A. in acting, she moved to New York City. She recalled how during her first year in the city, Dominican Father Gilbert Hartke, the founder and former head of the Department of Drama at 香蕉视频U, called her and said, 鈥淚rish, this Christmas, I give you the gift of courage.鈥 

鈥淚t was exactly what I needed,鈥 she said, after the discouragement of countless auditions and wondering about the future of her career. Father Hartke was 鈥渘ot only a mentor to everyone, but he was a friend,鈥 she said. (Hartke Theatre bears his name.)

Fallon Hogan credits the M.F.A. in Acting program for the experience of performing in a one-person show as a student. While in New York, she decided to write and put on a one-person show. Saturday Night Live came and 鈥渢hat鈥檚 how I ended up getting on Saturday Night Live,鈥 Fallon Hogan said. 鈥淚t opened so many doors for me for films and television.鈥

Over the course of three decades, Fallon Hogan has appeared on the stage and in film and television in productions such as Forrest Gump, Men in Black, Seinfeld, Charlotte鈥檚 Web, and Dancer in the Dark. She wrote and starred in her first screenplay, Rushed, a mystery thriller drama that was released in 2021 and is now available for streaming on Amazon.

Shelter in Solitude received awards for Best Actress and Best Cinematographer at the Boston International Film Festival. The film premiered Sept. 26 at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, and will be released in U.S. theaters Oct. 6.

鈥 A.C.

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