‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Director Ron Howard Is ‘Concerned’ About Trump-Vance Rhetoric: ‘We Gotta Get Out and Vote — for Whomever, but Be Thoughtful’
Ron Howard, the director behind “Hillbilly Elegy” and “A Beautiful Mind,” stressed to Variety the importance of exercising one’s right to vote in this upcoming presidential election in November.
The director stopped by Variety’s Toronto Film Festival Studio to promote his upcoming movie “Eden,” along with the cast, including Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Ana de Armas, and Daniel Brühl. There, the director was asked about his previous work adapting current Vice Presidental Candidate JD Vance’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” into the 2020 film starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close. What did Howard think of Vance’s political ascent since adapting his story years ago?
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“I have been surprised and concerned by a lot of the rhetoric coming out of that campaign,” Howard said. “There’s 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 5, 6 years ago. Yeah, I’d say that I’ve been surprised. And look, we gotta get out and vote, for whomever. But be thoughtful. Listen to what the candidates are saying today, that’s what’s really relevant it’s who they are today. And make a decision, an informed one.”
The film debuted on Netflix in November 2020, and though the announcement that Vance would be Trump’s running mate sparked its viewership on Netflix, the film was plagued with negative reviews. Variety wrote that Gabriel Basso’s portrayal of Vance was “so wholesomely likable that the fate of his soul never seems at stake.”
It continued: “His people may be haunted by the demons of Appalachia, but he comes off as a yuppie whose life has boiled down to: Will those demons stand in the way of my career path? Not if he won’t let them they won’t. That isn’t quite drama — it’s feel-good therapy.”
Meanwhile, Howard’s TIFF film, “Eden,” follows a group of Europeans who make a home on a previously undiscovered island in the Galapagos. Looking for paradise in the pristine and remote, they find that in reality hell is other people. Penned by Noah Pink, the film analyzes the “pitfalls of idealistic hubris” (according to the TIFF program guide).
Though the film will premiere at TIFF on Sept. 7, an official public release date has yet to be announced.
Variety’s Toronto Film Festival Studio is sponsored by J Crew and SharkNinja.
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