“Hillbilly Elegy” director Ron Howard reacts to JD Vance’s election campaign

Ron Howard will not vote for JD Vance in the upcoming election.

The famous filmmaker, 70, has a shared past with Vance, 40, who wrote the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was adapted into a Netflix film in 2020 under the direction of Howard.

But now that Vance is Donald Trump’s running mate for vice president in November, Howard has a new opinion of the Ohio senator.

“So, we didn’t talk much about politics when we were making the film because I was interested in his upbringing and this story of survival. That’s what we focused on a lot,” Howard said in an interview with Deadline at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday.

“However,” Howard continued, “I have to say, based on the conversations we’ve had during this time, I’m very surprised and disappointed by the rhetoric that I’m reading and hearing. People change, and I assume that’s the case. Well, it’s on the record.”

“When we talked at the time I knew him, he was not politically active or claimed to be particularly interested. So that was then. I think the most important thing is to recognize what’s going on today and vote.”

Howard added: “It’s not really about a movie that was made five or six years ago. It is, but we have to respond to what we see and hear and feel now and choose responsibly, whatever that means. We have to get involved. That’s my response.”

In an interview with Variety at TIFF, Howard said he was “surprised and concerned by the rhetoric” coming from the Trump-Vance campaign team.

The Oscar winner also stated: “It is out of the question for me to vote for Donald Trump as president again, whoever the vice president was.”

In his popular 2016 book, Vance wrote about his life, from his childhood in a working-class family in Appalachia to his graduation from Yale Law School.

In Howard’s film, Glenn Close played Vance’s grandmother, Amy Adams played Vance’s mother, and Gabriel Basso played Vance himself. Owen Asztalos played the young Vance.

When Hillbilly Elegy was released, it was met with mixed reviews. The Atlantic called it “one of the worst films of the year,” while the AV Club called it “self-propelled pornography” that “reinforces the stereotypes it claims to expose.” Post film critic Johnny Oleksinski called it “exploitative” and “just a vehicle for award-hungry actors to put themselves on display.”

Nevertheless, the film received Oscar nominations – for “Best Supporting Actress” (Close, 77) and for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Speaking to Variety last month at the premiere of her film “Everyone’s First to Die,” Close was wistful about Vance’s visit to the set of “Hillbilly Elegy,” but then blasted the senator for changing his stance on the 78-year-old Trump.

“One can only hope that the people in our government have moral backbone and do not say one thing and then something completely different,” she said.

The actress also made a subtle reference to Vance and his comments about “childless cat ladies” on social media.