In 1991, Hershey played Hanna Trout, the wife of the title character in "Paris Trout" (1991), a made-for-cable television movie. In this Showtime production, Hershey collaborated again with "A Killing in a Small Town" director Stephen Gyllenhaal to play a woman who has an affair with her husband's lawyer. Her husband, an abusive bigot (played by Dennis Hopper), is on trial for murdering a young African American girl. The film, which was based on Pete Dexter's 1988 National Book Award-winning novel, featured Hopper and Hershey enacting a graphic rape scene that the actress found difficult to view. The picture was described as a "dramatic reach deep into the dark hollows of racism, abuse and murder." "Paris Trout" was nominated for five Prime Time Emmy Awards, including nods for both Hershey and Hopper.