Director of ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ Ron Howard is 'surprised and disappointed' by JD Vance

Ron Howard is speaking out about the man behind his movie "Hillbilly Elegy" and how GOP Vice President nominee JD Vance has changed.

The child actor turned director, Howard, 70, told Variety at the Toronto International Film Festival that he was "surprised and concerned by a lot of the rhetoric coming out of that campaign," referencing Vance's campaign as running mate for former President Donald Trump.

Howard directed the 2020 Netflix movie, based on Vance's 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," and starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close. But he seems thrown and surprised by the change in Vance since his experience with him back then.

Close also had comments about JD Vance since the movie, here's what they had to say about him.

What did Ron Howard say about JD Vance?

“There’s no version of me voting for Donald Trump to be president again, whoever the Vice President was," said Howard. "But given the experience that I had then 5, 6 years ago. Yeah, I’d say that I’ve been surprised."

Howard further opened up about the need for people to vote in the 2024 Presidential Election.

"And look, we gotta get out and vote, for whomever," said Howard. "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.”

What did Glenn Close say about JD Vance?

Actress Glenn Close, who played Vance’s Mamaw in "Hillbilly Elegy" spoke out against his "childless cat lady" comments last month, in a social media post of her own with a picture of her and her cat that read, "Eve would have left a bleeding mouse head in the bed of anyone who criticized any kind of lady with a CAT!"

What did Vance say about childless cat ladies?

In a 2021 interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vance spoke about the country's direction, being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."

"It's just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance continued. “And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?"

Video of the interview resurfaced on social media after he was chosen to be Donald Trump's GOP running mate.

What is "Hillbilly Elegy" about?

“Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” was written in 2016 by Vance and was later turned into a movie.

The story-turned movie was about Vance growing up between the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio and the town of Jackson, Kentucky and his detailed upbringing from "dirt poor" to middle class and graduating from Yale Law School.

It was infused with his Appalachian values, socioeconomic problems, addiction and family dynamics.

This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: JD Vance campaign: Ron Howard, 'Hillbilly Elegy' director speaks out