Ron Howard, who directed the film, Hillbilly Elegy — based off Vice President JD Vance’s 2016 memoir — said he “wouldn’t have expected” Vance’s “rhetoric to be as divisive as it sometimes is,” before admitting that he is actually not “listening to every word” the vice president says.
“It remains a bit of a surprise to me,” Howard told Vulture of Vance’s emergence into politics, adding, “I wouldn’t have expected his rhetoric to be as divisive as it sometimes is” back when he was spending a lot of time with Vance during the making of Hillbilly Elegy, and attending the film’s pressers.
Despite making a bold claim about Vance’s “rhetoric,” the filmmaker went on to admit that he is “not following him or listening to every word.”
“He was trying to run an investment fund. So the run for Senate and the strategy he’s chosen to follow are not what I would’ve expected,” Howard added of the vice president.
After being asked if he has had any interactions with the “Hillbilly Elegy” author since the time they spent making and promoting the 2020 film together, the Oscar-winning director admitted to texting Vance after he was elected vice president alongside President Donald Trump.
“I did one text, after the election, which was just sort of ‘Godspeed. Try to serve us well,’” Howard reveled.
The filmmaker also noted that, despite the movie’s connection to Vance’s life, he considers Hillbilly Elegy somewhat of a personal project.
“There were aspects of Hillbilly Elegy that were personal because I wanted to do something about the heartland that wasn’t a bank-robbing story or about farming,” he said.
Earlier this year, actor Gabriel Basso, who portrayed Vance in Hillbilly Elegy, said he has no regrets about the role, adding that he finds it “crazy” to have played someone who later ended up in the White House.
“He’s a cool dude,” Basso said. “And it is wild to think that I’ll be forever associated with his pipeline [to becoming Vice President].”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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