Christians in Cinema

Many people perpetuate the mystique of film and television actors as men and women of leisure, whose basic needs are managed by an entourage of “people” just waiting for their next instruction. Not so Siobhan Fallon. When I spoke with her by phone, she was in the middle of mopping the floor at her home in New Jersey. Veteran of more than 25 films and with guest appearances on at least 10 different television series, Siobhan’s ability to relate to the ordinary person on the street translates beautifully on film.

I just want to be part of projects that are really quality and tell a real story

Her latest film role is Blanche Gunderson, the warmhearted secretary of a plant in New Ulm, Minnesota, that is being re-organized by Lucy Hill (Renee Zellweger), a bigshot from Miami. In spite of being worlds apart in personality, values and experience, the two women eventually develop a friendship that brings new life to the small town.

What do you think the director saw in you when he cast you in this role?

Siobhan:    It’s funny. The role went out last November (2007), and I think they had looked for quite some time for someone. I don’t even think I was in the first 100 they looked at it.

I’m from a small town in upstate New York called Cazenovia, and I know so many women like Blanche that I respect and love. I think that came through, because I understood her. And maybe she’s a lot like me too.

The role of Blanche in the film could come across as a caricature, but she doesn’t, and the audience respects her.

Siobhan:    She’s clearly a Christian woman and speaks about Jesus throughout the film. When I got the script, I thought, “Oh, they’re going to make fun of her. They’re going to make her into a Tammy Faye Baker and she’s going to be a goof.”

Then they didn’t, and I thought, “Oh, my gosh! I’ve got to get this part.”

I’m Catholic and I have three kids, and I’m always trying to teach them things I believe in. I thought, “Wouldn’t this be great to play someone who I respect and who’s familiar to myself.”

So then it worked, I thank God.

During a recent press conference, I was surprised at the reaction in the room when you talked about your faith. Sometimes in that atmosphere, statements about belief in Jesus are belittled.

Siobhan:    People have been so positive about it. I think it’s because people who don’t believe like I do are interested. There’s a feeling [among a lot of Christians] that there’s this conspiracy [against Christianity], but there isn’t. People are interested and they want to hear your faith. I think a lot of times we’re afraid to talk about it. As I get older, I’m becoming less afraid to talk about it.

I think people find that interesting, just as I find it interesting to talk with people of other faiths and religious backgrounds.

It was nicely incorporated into the script because it wasn’t a confrontational moment between your characters. It seemed more of an introduction.

Siobhan:    It’s not like Blanche is on her big soapbox. It’s more that she’s trying to find out “Who are you? What are you about”

She’s like, “Are you a vegetarian? Are you like this, are you like that? Have you found Jesus?” She’s just one of these women who wants to get down to brass tacks and find out what someone is like immediately and not have to take three days to find out.

A big part of her life is being a Christian, so she’s wanting to know what makes Lucy tick.

What makes you tick personally, and what makes you connect with films like this?

Siobhan:    I just want to be part of projects that are really quality and tell a real story, that have people that are real and are familiar. People that you can understand, or maybe cannot understand in a way that they’re authentic. When a story has a real goal to it, like this movie.

This story is very timely with the recession. The woman comes in, she’s on the fast track of her life and her career, and she comes into this small town to make changes there. There’s so much material there. That doesn’t mean we’re not as smart as she is, but maybe she thinks that we aren’t. That makes for another interesting element. We come to agree that we’re equally smart and we can both care for each other in our own way. These are ideas in life that I find interesting and entertaining.

Wouldn’t this be great to play someone who I respect and who’s familiar to myself?

I think my character lives what people might call a “simple life.” But what’s so simple about working full time, having a family, and being able to cook (which I know I personally can’t do), have people in and make them feel welcome? She has a great sense of humor and really is entertainment to a lot of her friends, the people in the town, but she doesn’t take any flack either.

(At this point in the conversation, Siobhan asks if I can hear the water in the background, concerned I might think she’s flushing the toilet. She’s not, she’s mopping her floor)

Blanche has a lot on her plate. She has a child, she’s got to keep the factory going, she has to be a busybody because she has to find out who’s being fired and who she’s going to keep working. She’s the glue to a lot of these people. She’s also the connection to Lucy, who’s going to be the deciding factor in a lot of these people’s lives.

Are you the glue in your family?

Siobhan:    I don’t know. My husband’s great. Oddly enough, he’s from Brooklyn and is one of seven children. He’s always teaching the kids Shakespeare and the classics. You think that would be me, because I’m the actress, but he does that. He said it’s because he was one of seven kids and his mom didn’t have a lot of time to pay attention to things like that that he wants to develop things like that in the kids.

He’s got real strong opinions about the way kids should live and their code of ethics, so I think we’re a team.

He trades commodities in New York City, so he yells and screams all day. He’s one of those kooks you’re seeing less and less of.

Do you take your family on film shoots? Did they go to Winnipeg with you?

Siobhan:    Normally I take my kids. When I did Charlotte’s Web, they came to Australia with me and went to a little Catholic school there. I worked in Denmark and Sweden with director Lars Von Trier and they went there.

[Talking in character with an accent] normally drives me crazy, but I became one of those people.

They did not come to Winnipeg with me because the weather is so extreme. I also had a chance to come back and forth. The longest stretch I was away was three weeks, which believe me, is hard. Now my oldest daughter is 14 and she’s in junior high, so it’s a little harder to take them out of school.

I heard this when I first had children and it sounds crazy, but it’s harder when they’re away for shorter periods of time. It’s best if they stay in their routine if it’s only going to be three weeks. If it’s months on end, then bring them. If it’s going to be really destructive for them, maybe good for you, but screw them up at school, then they should stay home. My husband actually traded from home during that time, so that worked out great.

Can you talk about working in Winnipeg? I can identify with that airport scene because I made a trip to Winnipeg in the dead of winter, which is when you were filming.

Siobhan:    There was ice on the rug of the jetway to the plane when we flew in and out of that city! I’m from Syracuse, which is really, really cold. When we first got the script and everything in the mail from the production company, the first part was “How to prepare for the cold in Winnipeg,” and it was four pages.

I thought, “I don’t need this. I’m from Syracuse.” So I threw it out.

Then when I got there, I thought, “I wish I had that package.”

There’s a scene where I confront Renee because I find out she’s going to get rid of me. In that scene I have to cry, and when you cry, you want it to look good. As a comedic actress, you don’t want people to think you don’t have chops.

Needless to say, the scene went really well because of Murphy’s Law. They called me the next day and said, “We want to talk to you.”

In my psychotic mind, I thought, “Oh wow, they want to give me a raise because I did so well. I’ve never heard of a production giving someone a raise, but clearly that’s what they want!”

So I went in and they said, “Siobhan, can you sit down for a second?” and I’m like, “Yeah,” and they said, “We need to redo that scene. The lens froze. It was 56 below 0, and the lenses don’t work.”

I said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! Well, now I’ve got a reason to cry!” It was insanely cold. But I think it added to the film when you see it. When I saw it in LA, the people sitting behind me kept going “Brr!” It comes across.

It also makes working together so fun because you have this extra element that you’re fighting the elements. You say, “Hey, we got through the day!” It’s simple things like that.

You nailed the Minnesota accent. How did you develop that?

Siobhan:    Oh, good. I wanted it to be very real, so I went to a vocal coach named Liz Himmelstein. She does a lot of dialect coaching and is actually from around that area. Then she suggested that I call people in Minnesota and talk to them on the phone.

Wayne [Nicklas], the guy who plays my husband, and I used to talk in character with the accent all the time. Actually, it normally drives me crazy, but I became one of those people.

All pictures by Rebecca Sandaluk