Ron Howard has had a hand in countless movies. So, it makes sense he might not agree with all the people he’s worked with.
This is proving to be especially true of JD Vance, whom Donald Trump selected as his vice presidential pick a few weeks ago. Vance first came to national prominence with his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which Howard turned into a film that was released in 2020.
The movie focuses on Vance’s early life and upbringing in Ohio, and stars Amy Adams as his mother and Glenn Close as his grandmother. Despite what many felt was a middling film, Close managed to nab an Oscar nomination for her role. Vance was an executive producer, and worked closely with Howard on many aspects of the script.
Although Vance touted himself as a conservative at the time, the film itself was pitched as a family drama. Howard was steadfast on this point, telling CBS This Morning that those who disliked the film for its alleged politics were:
“Looking at political thematics that they may or may not agree with, that honestly aren’t really reflected, or are not front and center, in this story…what I saw was a family drama that could be very relatable.”
Since Howard’s biopic, Vance himself has had a stratospheric rise — and in recent weeks, a plummeting fall. He’s also become more and more radical in his conservative stances, something that seems to trouble the director.
The director and producer spoke to Variety at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he discussed how he is “surprised and concernted” by some of the rhetoric that Vance has been spouting in recent weeks. He added:
“There was no version of me voting for Donald Trump to be president again, whoever the vice president was. But given the experience that I had then, five six years ago, yeah, I’d say that I’ve been surprised.”
He added:
“We’ve got to get out and vote, for whomever. But be thoughtful, listen to what the candidates are saying today — that’s what’s really relevant, who they are today — and make a decision, an informed one.”
This isn’t the first time Howard has talked about Vance in a political context. Two years ago, he told Variety that he was “surprised” by how rapidly the politician had fallen into MAGA, adding: “to me, he struck me as a very moderate center-right kind of guy.”
He also confirmed the much-believed view that Vance, at one time not too long ago, openly disliked Trump as a candidate.
Published: Sep 9, 2024 12:13 pm