Ron Howard won't be voting for JD Vance in the upcoming election.
The famed film director, 70, is friends with Vance, 40, who wrote the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was adapted into a Netflix film by Howard in 2020.
But now that Vance is President Donald Trump's running mate in November's presidential election, Howard has a new opinion of the Ohio senator.
“Well, we didn't really talk about politics when we were making the movie because we were interested in his upbringing and his survival story. That's what we primarily focused on,” Howard said in an interview. deadline At the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday.
“But,” Howard continued, “based on the conversations I've had in the intervening years, I have to say I'm very surprised and disappointed by a lot of the rhetoric I'm reading and hearing. People change, and I think that's a fact. Well, that's on the record.”
“When I spoke to him when I knew him, he wasn't involved in politics and didn't claim to be particularly interested, so that was back then. I think it's important to be aware of what's going on and to vote.”
Howard added: “This isn't about a movie that was made five or six years ago. But we need to respond to what we see, hear and feel right now and vote responsibly, whatever that may be. We need to get involved. That's my answer.”
in Variety magazine interview At TIFF, Howard said he was “surprised and concerned by a number of statements” coming from the Trump-Vance campaign.
The Oscar winner also declared, “I will not vote for Donald Trump to be president again, no matter who the vice president is.”
In his popular 2016 book, Vance chronicled his life from growing up in a working-class Appalachian family to graduating from Yale Law School.
Howard's film stars Glenn Close as Vance's grandmother, Amy Adams as Vance's mother, and Gabriel Basso as Vance himself. Owen Asztalos plays a young Vance.
“Hillbilly Elegy” wasn't very well received when it was released. Atlantic Ocean It was described as “one of the worst films of the year.” AV Club The paper called the film “self-made poverty porn” that “reinforces the stereotypes it purports to expose.” Washington Post film critic Johnny Oleksinski called the movie “exploitative” and “merely a vehicle for awards-hungry actors to show off.”
Nevertheless, the film was nominated for an Oscar, with Crows (1977) receiving nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Make-up and Hairstyling.
Last month, at the premiere screening of the film “Escape,” Close Variety She then reminisced about Senator Vance's visit to the set of “Hillbilly Elegy,” but later criticized him for his ever-changing attitude toward the 78-year-old Trump.
“I just hope that people in government have a sense of morality and don't say one thing and then say something 150 degrees different,” she said.
The actress also subtly criticized Vance's “childfree Catwoman” remarks on social media.
