Caleb Hearon dishes on growing up gay in a small town, ‘Sweethearts’ & that time his podcast got him in trouble
Jurassic World Dominion to the Fargo TV series—his latest scene-stealing role in the rom-com Sweethearts makes it clear that Hearon is just getting started.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.The film follows life-long friends Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (Nico Hiraga) who moved away to college and are only now realizing they need ends things with their respective long-distance high school sweethearts.
So, they concoct a plan to do it while everyone’s back in their hometown for Thanksgiving break.Meanwhile, Hearon plays their gay bestie Palmer who deferred college for a year to work at a patisserie in Paris, now returning home for the holiday to come out to all the people he grew up with and show everyone how cool his European life is.While the entire ensemble (which also features faves like Joel Kim Booster, Tramell Tillman & Miles Gutierrez- Riley) is charming, it’s in Palmer’s story that queer audiences will find a surprising resonance: Are we too eager to leave our hometowns behind?
Do we judge those that do stick around a little too harshly? Are we putting up walls to protect ourselves before we even take a chance to let others in?Those are all questions Hearon’s familiar with, too, having grown up in small-town Missouri knowing he was gay, but only coming out years later after moving away.
He sees a lot of himself in Palmer, and there’s a good chance you might too.With Sweethearts streaming on Max this coming Thanksgiving weekend (Nov.
