Siobhan Fallon Hogan remembers exactly when she decided she wanted to become an actress.  

She was in the first grade, and an Irish dance troupe had come to her elementary school in Syracuse, New York, for the school’s annual St. Patrick’s Day program. The school’s principal asked if anyone knew how to do Irish dancing, and Hogan was the only one to raise her hand.

She was then invited to join the troupe on stage. But there was just one problem. 

“I did not Irish dance,” she said. “I just knew how to fake it at home.” 

“I did what I thought was the Irish jig for the whole school,” Hogan said, adding, “And I thought, ‘I like this. I like it up here.’” 

Hogan, whose first name is pronounced “Sha-VAHN,” has been stealing scenes ever since as a character actress known for her memorable roles in blockbuster movies like Forrest Gump, Men in Black and Holes, as well as on Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld.

It’s easy to see why she was cast for roles in so many major movies — and why EWTN invited her to host its new podcast, Catholics and Cappuccinos, which debuted on Feb. 5 on EWTN+, EWTN’s new streaming platform.  

Hogan, who also writes and produces films and plays, is genuinely funny.

She’s a force of nature, too, with improvisational and comic gifts reminiscent of the late Robin Williams. And her faith shines through: heartfelt yet humble, with a self-deprecating humor that draws her guests into frank conversations about their Catholic faith.

The story of how Hogan came to the attention of EWTN is a microcosm of how things typically work in Hollywood: the unpredictable alignment of the right people with the right contacts at the right time. Deacon Charlie Echeverry, a nationally known speaker, author and producer of Catholic film and television, saw her movie Shelter in Solitude, loved it, and then had her send her material to EWTN.

Peter Gagnon, the president of EWTN Studios, the network’s specialized content division, then invited Hogan to a conference hosted by the Napa Institute, a Catholic apostolate, and they “really hit it off,” according to Hogan.

“Over the course of the weekend we had so many great conversations, both individually and with different folks, that I said to her that we had to do a podcast with her,” Gagnon said. “Podcasts were part of our content strategy, and I could tell she would be a great host because in every conversation she would bring energy, joy and a love of her faith.”

“Plus,” Gagnon added, “she is hilarious!”

Her son Peter, who is a producer of the podcast, came up with its name, and Hogan decided on a guiding principle for the show. 

“I said, ‘I think we should interview celebrities and religious who talk about their faith journey and how their Catholic faith has affected their lives, their careers and their families. I think that’s all it should be, that simple,’” she recounted.

In the first three episodes, Jonathan Roumie, Kevin James and Patricia Heaton speak openly about their personal struggles and the impact faith has had on their acting careers. EWTN+ is available for free on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV. It can also be accessed through EWTN.com.

Hogan acknowledges that she’s a natural fit for podcasting. “It’s because I’m Irish — we just talk and talk and tell stories,” the 64-year-old New York state native told the Register. 

At the family dinner table, Hogan did more than keep up, sometimes to the frustration of her four siblings. She recalls her younger sister Megan getting up from the table to ask, “Mom, do you think I could have a chance to talk?”

“My father was this hilarious, loud Irishman, and my mother was sophisticated, and they had the best marriage, and were very devout and great parents, and so really instilled in us faith. They were just great,” Hogan said.

The ‘Catholic U’ Connection

That faith, paired with impeccable comic timing and an unabashed eagerness to make others laugh makes her podcast unique. 

In her episode with Roumie — who portrays Jesus in The Chosen — the two reflect on their early struggles to “make it” in Hollywood. Roumie recounts being out of work and down to his last dollar when he finally got down on his knees and surrendered everything to God. He was immediately overwhelmed by a deep sense of peace. Three months later, he was offered the role of Jesus — without even auditioning.

It was a powerful testimony. But how do you follow that? For Hogan, a good laugh is always in order.

When the conversation turns to the social pressures and temptations young people face today, Hogan seizes the opening for an improvisational riff on “lip fillers” and how her mother had once made her give up the French horn for fear it would make her lips bigger. 

“I think your lips are plenty,” Hogan recalls her mother saying, as Roumie looks bemused. 

In fact, improv has been her bread and butter since she started acting and got her first big break with an improv company in New York City called Who’s on First, which led to her writing a one-person show for herself that got her noticed by Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld.

Hogan credits her father’s cousin with changing the trajectory of her life (her parents had wanted her to be a teacher) by introducing her to Linda Miller, who had also studied drama at The Catholic University of America and is the daughter of the legendary comedian Jackie Gleason. 

At this point in the interview, Hogan launches into a comedy bit, barely pausing for breath as she paints a vivid picture of the bookish cousin from Manhattan who as an only child  was shipped off to spend summers with the Fallons because “they didn’t want her to be a weirdo.” 

Long (but rapid) story short: Beth’s father became best friends with Jackie Gleason while in “the dry out,” and his daughter became best friends with Gleason’s daughter, who filled young Siobhan’s head with dreams of studying drama at “Catholic U.”

While at Catholic University, Hogan said, she passed up a chance for a part as Ally Sheedy’s double in the movie St. Elmo’s Fire — a role that would have given her a much-coveted SAG union card — to play the maid in the school’s production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

“The head of the department said once you accept a part, it’s unethical to turn it down. You just don’t do that,” she said.

“They really instilled great ethics and morality. We were surrounded by the faith,” she explained, recalling that it was at Catholic University that she learned to seek the intercession of St. Genesius, the third-century patron saint of actors who was martyred after refusing to act in a scene mocking Christian baptism.

After graduation, she headed to New York City, a period of her life she describes as “pathetic,” as she worked part-time jobs while trying to get work acting.

“I’ve done every job there is. I’ve been a clown at birthday parties; but I tried to be a waitress, but I was so distracted and so I would look at the people and I’d be like, ‘No one looks familiar,’” she said. 

“After I took people’s orders, I’d get so nervous about it. I’d go to get the food, and I’d look at the food, look at the people, look at the food, no one looked familiar,” she said, “and people were mean.”

Getting hired by Saturday Night Live (1991-92) and Seinfeld (1991-1994), she said, opened doors for her in the movie business. She has been cast in comic roles in a number of successful movies — including the aforementioned Forrest Gump,  Men in Black and Holes, plus Daddy Day Care, Charlotte’s Web and New in Town — and has broadened her range to include more dramatic work, including in three films with Danish director Lars von Trier, among them Dancer in the Dark, in which she played a prison guard responsible for the character played by the singer Björk.

A Proud (and Public) Catholic

Hogan doesn’t shy away from sharing her faith: There’s a 6-foot-tall statue of the Blessed Mother in front of her house where she and her husband Peter, a commodities trader, raised their three children in Rumson, New Jersey, an upscale suburb at the Jersey Shore. 

Around her neck, Hogan wears a chain with a crucifix, a Miraculous Medal, a Celtic cross and a St. Christopher medal on it. Unlike many other people in show business, she said, she never went through a period when she was separated from the Church or lost her faith. 

She and her sister Megan, who has a theology degree from the Augustine Institute, run a summer Bible camp in their hometown of Cazenovia, New York, a lakeside village 30 miles from Syracuse, even though their children are grown. 

“She has a very natural, great relationship with kids. She understands them,” Megan Fallon, who is an attorney, said of her actress sister.

“The kids think it’s hysterical because they get to do improv,” she said. “One minute they’re doing a skit about the Crucifixion and the next minute they’re singing Jesus Christ Superstar and dancing and having a blast.”

Hogan told the Register she tried to instill the faith in her kids when they were young, organizing a contest to get them to memorize the Hail, Holy Queen prayer (the prize or “bribe,” she says, was a trip to Crazees, the local ice cream parlor), and even today she calls them every week to remind them to go to Mass. 

She fought the local public high school board in Rumson, after discovering that her son’s assigned reading contained inappropriate content.

“I sent out an email to every single person I know, and I put in the language that was in it and I said, ‘I hope your kids are enjoying the porn. If you’d like to talk about this, I’d like to have a meeting at my house,’” she recounted. 

“I like a good fight. I was not afraid to defend our faith,” she said.

Throughout her acting career, she said, she has tried to live according to the teachings of the faith, turning down roles that conflicted with her beliefs or insisting that her family travel with her to filming locations. 

While known for her work as a comedic character actress, the movies she has written (and in which she acts) reflect her strong faith and unflinching attitude towards human suffering. In Shelter in Solitude (2023), she plays a washed-up country singer who befriends a man on death row. Rushed (2021) is about a tragic fraternity-hazing incident. Both movies, while tackling serious subjects, are laced with Hogan’s trademark humor.

Laughter really can be the best medicine, according to Hogan, who saw her sister and brother-in-law suffer after losing their son.

“They used their great Irish humor to slowly rise out of the depths of hell with their strong faith, so I think that humor is a great fit to help people who are suffering or when they are suffering themselves,” Hogan told the Register.

As a member of the cast of Saturday Night Live, Hogan would accompany comedian Chris Farley to Mass since they lived in the same neighborhood. Farley would later die from a drug overdose at age 33.

“He was so faithful,” Hogan told Kevin James on the podcast. “He wrote the ‘Clown Prayer’ out for me, which is a beautiful prayer.”

The final words of the prayer speak not only to Farley’s heart, but also to Hogan’s gift of faith-filled humor.

Never let me forget that my total effort
is to cheer people, make them happy
and forget — at least momentarily —
all the unpleasantness in their lives.
And, in my final moment,
may I hear You whisper:
“When you made My people smile,
you made Me smile.”