Caleb Hearon Rejects the Clown Label in Grief-Driven ‘Trash Mountain’

Comedy helped Caleb Hearon process the unexpected death of his father. When the comic and actor co-wrote Trash Mountain with Ruby Caster, Hearon had to weigh how much humor to employ amid the tears, starring alongside Zooey Deschanel in Kris Rey’s dramedy about love and loss.

“No. If anything, I’m eager to prove that I’m not just a clown,” said Hearon, who stars in The Devil Wears Prada sequel and an HBO Max comedy special, addressing a Toronto Film Festival audience Friday following the world premiere of his comedic weepie.

Caster admitted she was cautious having a skilled comedian at the helm, wary of crossing the line between laughter and tears when writing about grief. Hearon diffused the tension with a joke: “You stepped across a lot of lines. And I want to talk about that, here, tonight.”

In Trash Mountain, Hearon plays Gavin, a young gay Chicago man forced to return to rural Missouri after his hoarder father’s death. Having emotionally distanced himself from nearly everyone, Gavin reunites with his half-sister Abbi, played by Deschanel.

“This was a really complicated guy, and he didn’t have a perfect son either,” Hearon said of his real-life father, whose inspired character never appears onscreen. Nevertheless, the late father looms large as Gavin and Abbi sift through his belongings, which accumulate in the front yard as a mountain of refuse.

As the siblings sort through the mess left by their hoarder father, what was once trash becomes keepsakes they must decide whether to keep or discard. Deschanel brought one of the scarves her late grandfather wore before his death to use as a prop after an early wardrobe call.

“I have them in my closet, and every time I see them I think of my grandfather. These objects can be conduits for people that have passed,” said Deschanel, best known for All the Real Girls and The Good Girl, addressing the TIFF audience.

Trash Mountain also stars Jackie Weaver, Jaboukie Young-White, Kyle Martin, and Holmes, with Lilly Wachowski among the executive producers. The Toronto International Film Festival runs through September 20.

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