“The Trout Has Spoken”: Riley Von Husen on Scene-Stealing in Jindabyne and Why a Sequel Might Be in the Works

By Marla Jennings | Film Weekly AU | 25 July 2006

Few would have guessed that a character named Trout — a philosophical bait shop attendant with a mullet — would end up making one of the biggest impressions in Jindabyne. But since the film’s premiere last week, amid its heavy themes and powerhouse performances from Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney, it was newcomer Riley Von Husen who quietly hooked audiences with a role that was never meant to be more than a two-scene cameo.

“I honestly thought I was just there to hand someone a fishing rod,” Von Husen tells me, grinning across a café table in Sydney’s Surry Hills. “Next thing I know, people are quoting me on the street — stuff like ‘Fish don’t lie, mate. People do.’ I made that up on the spot!”

For those who somehow missed the film (a taut, moody adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story), Jindabyne follows a group of friends who discover a body in a river and delay reporting it — sparking a tense exploration of morality, race, and community. And somewhere in the midst of all this? Trout, a mullet-wearing bait shop attendant played by Riley Von Husen — stands out for his unexpectedly sharp and often hilarious lines. In a film filled with heavy moments, Trout brings an unlikely brand of humor, offering up comic relief that’s as memorable as it is weirdly profound.

“It was my first movie ever,” Von Husen says, with a grin. “Before this, I’d done a couple of ads for Maccas and a voiceover for my local butcher. But nothing where I had to make a monologue about worms sound profound.”

According to the film’s director, Ray Lawrence, Trout wasn’t even in the original script.

“We needed someone to say three lines and sell the fact that these guys were going fishing,” Lawrence said in a past interview. “But then Riley came in, improvised a weird little speech about fish migration, and we all just sort of sat there blinking. It was… unexpectedly moving.”

Since the film’s release, Trout has taken on a life of his own, with fans exchanging jokes about him in forums, creating homemade fishing lures, and even circulating a petition titled “Let’s hear Trout’s story: give him his own movie!” via email chains.

“There have been some very casual chats,” he says. “One producer cornered me at a wrap party and mentioned something about a Trout origin story. I thought he was joking, but later that night he sent me a pitch deck and had me sign an NDA. Can’t really say much more.”

He pauses, then adds,

“There was also an idea for Return to Jindabyne: The River Remembers. It got as far as a poster mock-up—me holding a big fish, staring off into the distance, all dramatic. But it never really went anywhere. Probably for the best.”

In the meantime, Von Husen is taking things slow. He’s reportedly in talks for a guest spot on Home and Away, and has been writing a one-man show titled Fish Don’t Cry for next year’s Adelaide Fringe.

When asked if he feels any pressure, Von Husen shrugs.

“I mean, yeah, it’s surreal. One week you’re practicing how to gut a fish for a close-up, and the next you’re on a red carpet trying not to trip over your mate’s borrowed suit pants. But I’m not complaining — I’ll see where the river takes me.”

So, will we see Trout again?

“Maybe if the water’s right,” Von Husen says, deadpan.