From The Hollywood Reporter · Etan Vlessing · · 1m 20s
Caleb Hearon Is Not Here to Be the Clown
A comic who lost his dad made a movie about grief, and he wants you to know the tears are the point.
In brief
A comic who lost his dad made a movie about grief, and he wants you to know the tears are the point. Hearon used Trash Mountain to show he can do more than get a laugh, even in a comedy about grief. Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Comedy got him through
Caleb Hearon's father died unexpectedly, and comedy was how he worked through it. That loss sits underneath the film he went on to write.
He co-wrote the grief
Hearon wrote Trash Mountain with Ruby Caster, turning the experience into a dramedy about love and loss rather than a straight comedy.
How funny is too funny
Starring in it meant deciding how hard to lean on jokes while crying on camera. The balance was a real choice, not a default.
Not just a clown
Asked about that balance at TIFF, Hearon refused the easy answer. He said he is trying to prove there is more to him than laughs.
“No. If anything, I'm eager to prove that I'm not just a clown.”
The room that heard it
He said it to a Toronto Film Festival audience on Friday night, right after the world premiere of the film. Kris Rey directed, with Zooey Deschanel co-starring.
A comedic weepie
That is Hearon's own label for it. The movie is built to make you laugh and cry in the same scene, and he is betting people want both.
“his comedic weepie”
The one thing
Hearon used Trash Mountain to show he can do more than get a laugh, even in a comedy about grief.
