Faith and Hollywood: Interview with Siobhan Fallon of the Movie 'New in Town'

How difficult is it to reconcile your Catholic Christian faith and work in Hollywood? Siobhan Fallon proves that you can do just that.

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - How difficult is it to reconcile your Catholic Christian faith and work in Hollywood? Siobhan Fallon proves that you can do just that. She has successfully maintained her moral standards amid many opportunities to do otherwise. She also provides a great example to aspiring artists and concerned parents.

Siobhan grew up in Syracuse, New York as a 'cradle Catholic'. She applies her Catholic Christian perspective on life to her choices of film roles. She has certainly done so in her latest movie entitled 'New in Town'. It is an upbeat romantic comedy starring Renee Zellweger as Lucy Hill, a career minded female executive stuck in a 'good old boy' network, and Harry Connick Jr. as her small town love interest.

Siobhn has a long resume of movies. Mostly all share the common theme of being 'healthy' movies. She began her career on stage in her own character driven one woman shows. After appearing in her show, "Bat Girl," she was cast on "Saturday Night Live" in 1992. That show opened many doors for Fallon and soon she started to work steadily in films. Although she began in comedy, Fallon also has a following in dramatic foreign films, notably Lars Von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark" and "Dogville." She also played in Michael Haneke's "Funny Games." Her television credits include a recurring role on "Seinfeld" as Elaine's roommate and a role as Alec Baldwin's sister on "30 Rock"

Siobhan shared in a recent interview with Catholic Online that she really enjoyed playing the role because her character's Christian faith was portrayed in a positive and upbeat manner. Her role, Blanche Gunderson, is a character with developed Christian values which are also reflected in her extended small town community, New Ulm.

The town of New Ulm serves as a foil in the movie. Its community members good values and caring nature serve to melt down the 'business manner' of the newly arrived - from Miami to frigid 40 degrees below zero New Ulm -character named Lucy Hill. Lucy Hill is a city-bound CEO who is all about doing 'the job'. She ultimately learns to love the people. She also learns a valuable lesson, to agree to disagree.

When Siobhan was asked about her faith and her career she responded that acting in movies which exhibit positive values has been important to her. It enables her to better reflect those same true values to her children Bernadette, Peter, and Sinead, as a parent and try to be a role model as well as an actress while demonstrating a level of moral responsibility.

Siobhan attended Lemoyne College a private Catholic college in upstate New York established by the Jesuits in 1946. She set her sites on becoming an actress in her senior year. Her decision to attend Lemoyne College was based upon a number of things; her father who was one of eleven kids who attended Lemoyne as did her grandfather.

Siobhan path to her graduate degree was facilitated by the daughter of the late Jackie Gleason, Linda, who encouraged her to attend Catholic University where she earned her MFA. Her familial line of dedication to Catholic education continues as both of her daughters currently attend Catholic school.

When asked about the appeal of acting in her latest movie 'New in Town' she noted, "The whole movie has a beautiful theme and is about values". To illustrate that fact, she pointed to a scene where the Renee Zellweger character is invited to the beautifully candle lit town square to sing 'silent night' with the rest of the community.

'New in Town' is a romantic comedy and, as Siobhan related, "the romance is portrayed in a responsible, respectful manner". She was also pleased that the movie portrays the relationship between the single father and his blossoming daughter in a sensitive and respectful manner.

When asked about a scene in 'New in Town' where she presents Zellweger's character with a homemade scrapbook, she described herself as a domestic disaster and not really "crafty" at all. She related that after the completion of the movie, the 'prop people' gave her the scrapping props which she then took home with her. Her daughters took the scrapping supplies and put together a family album. She stated with satisfaction, 'so now the pictures are all in one place'.

This loving mother is a semi-willing pet owner. She was talked into the ownership of two cats by her daughters and just recently survived the loss of her two gerbils, one of which died of presumed heartbreak from the loss of the first.

Siobhan has a long resume of movies. Most share the common element of being 'healthy' movies. She has made the diligent effort to participate in film projects intelligently by playing those roles which reflect her values.

'New in Town' has just had its rating changed from PG13 to PG. It will have great appeal to those looking for a 'nice' movie, one that is not filled with vulgarity or inappropriate sexual content but grounded in a moral vision and filled with genuine human understanding.

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Arturo Marquez is the Vice President of Operations for Catholic Online

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