Ron Howard Finally Reckons With His Role in Elevating JD Vance
Ron Howard has finally started responding to questions about his role in elevating the profile of Donald Trump’s now running mate, JD Vance, after adapting Vance’s memoir into 2020’s Amy Adams and Glenn Close starrer Hillbilly Elegy.
Howard, speaking from the Toronto International Film Festival where he’s promoting his latest movie Eden, told Deadline he’s been both “surprised and disappointed” by what he’s heard from Vance since his ascension to the spotlight after Trump selected him for VP. According to Howard, at the time he was adapting Vance’s book into the Netflix film, the Ohio-born lawyer wasn’t interested in politics.
“We didn’t talk a lot of politics when we were making the movie,” Howard told the site, “I was interested in his upbringing and that survival tale. That’s what we mostly focused on.” But, as Howard said, “that was then.”