Gabriel Basso, who played Trump-ally, says actors should not comment on politics – as Ron Howard and Glenn Close speak against MAGA politics of Netflix film’s subject
Ron Howard and Glenn Close, who respectively directed and starred in Hillbilly Elegy, have distanced themselves from JD Vance, the subject of the Netflix film.
Gabriel Basso, who played the now-vice president, has, however, said that actors should not be commenting on politics, in an admonishment to his co-stars.
The movie, released in 2020, followed the vice president’s 2016 memoir from his tough upbringing to his graduation from Yale and marriage to Usha Chilukuri, who was played by Freida Pinto.
Vance was played by Gabriel Basso, Amy Adams played his heroin-addicted mother Bev, and Close was Vance’s grandmother Bonnie, who struggled to hold the Ohio family together.
Hillbilly Elegy was a hit book and made a name for Vance as an American Dream success story, while the film was also number one on Netflix.
However, upon filming, there was little indication that Vance had ambitions that could one day see him move into politics and become a fierce ally of Donald Trump.
Howard, who worked with Vance for the film, said he was “surprised and concerned” that he had become a staunch Republican and MAGA cheerleader.
“We didn’t talk a lot of politics when we were making the movie because I was interested in Vance’s upbringing and that survival tale,” Howard told Deadline.
“That’s what we mostly focused on.”
The director added: “However, based on the conversations that we had during that time, I just have to say I’m very surprised and disappointed by much of the rhetoric that I’m reading and hearing.
“People do change, and I assume that’s the case. When we spoke around the time that I knew him, he was not involved in politics or claimed to be particularly interested.”
Vance joined Mr Trump on the Republican ticket in 2024 and is a favourite to run for the White House himself next time around.
Close said at the time: “The film wasn’t made with politics in mind, it was made with Ron’s intent. I think he succeeded magnificently in telling the story of a very specific family.”
She has since, though, hit out after Vance called Democratic politicians a “bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives”. He has since said the comment was made as a joke.
“Eve [Close’s feline] would have left a bleeding mouse head in the bed of anyone who criticized any kind of lady with a CAT!” the actress wrote on Instagram in 2024.
“I don’t know what happened,” she recently told an audience of his change since she filmed Hillbilly Elegy.
Night Agent star Basso has, however, taken a different stance and said it is not the place of actors to comment on politics.
“You should be quiet, you should do your job. You should … entertain people – then shut the f*** up,” he said last year.