Hillbilly Elegy star Glenn Close says she ‘doesn’t know what happened’ to JD Vance

Actor expressed confusion over Vance’s ‘whole different personality’

Glenn Close has hit out at JD Vance after starring in the film about his life, Hillbilly Elegy.

Since he was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, Vance has been criticised for comments that saw him refer to women, such as Trump’s presidential rival Kamala Harris, as “childless cat ladies”.

This prompted swift backlash and accusations of sexism, with Vance claiming the remarks were made in “sarcasm”.

Before Vance’s political career, he was known for being the author of memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which was later adapted into a Netflix film. Close played Vance’s grandmother Mawmaw in the movie, alongside Amy Adams as his mother. Vance himself was an executive producer on the film, and is portrayed by Night Agent actor Gabriel Basso.

On an episode of The View, Close reflected on the film weeks before Vance officially becomes Trump’s vice president.

The View co-host Joy Behar said: “I remember him hawking it in the old days – he even visited the set at the time you were doing that.” To which Close replied: “He did, and he helped young Owen [Asztalos], who was playing him [at a younger age]. He helped him.”

Close, who received an Oscar nomination for the film, also revealed that the cast, including Adams, individually sat down with Vance and his family “one-on-one” to fully prepare for their roles.

Glenn Close says she ‘doesn’t know what’s happened’ to JD Vance (AFP via Getty Images)

When Behar noted Vance “had a whole different personality in those days than he has now”, Close said: “I don’t know what happened”, suggesting that political success might have altered his outlook.

“Power is probably the biggest aphrodisiac for a human being,” she told Behar.

Hillbilly Elegy director Ron Howard didn’t hold back when he was accused of “unleashing” the “polarising, volatile conservative” with his memoir adaptation.

He told Deadline in September 2024: “Well, we didn’t talk a lot of politics when we were making the movie because I was interested in his upbringing and that survival tale. That’s what we mostly focused on.

“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. Well, it’s on record.”

Glenn Close in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ (Netflix)

Howard continued: “When we spoke around the time that I knew him, he was not involved in politics or claimed to be particularly interested. So that was then.”

He said that he thinks “the important thing is to recognise what’s going on today and to vote”, telling the outlet: “And so that’s my answer. It’s not really about a movie made five or six years ago. It is, but we need to respond to what we’re seeing, hearing, feeling now, and vote responsibly, whatever that is. We must participate. That’s my answer.”

Before Vance was a couple of steps away from the most powerful position in the world, he was just a self-proclaimed “hillbilly” raised in the Appalachian mountains, living in poverty, despair and dysfunction. His journey to Yale Law School was documented in the memoir, which was published in 2017.

JD Vance caused controversy with many remarks in the US election (AFP via Getty Images)

In the introduction to the book, he said: “I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve accomplished nothing great in my life, certainly nothing that could justify a complete stranger spending money to read about. I am not a senator, a governor, or a cabinet secretary.”

The film was described by The Independent’s critic Clarisse Loughrey as “a sickeningly irresponsible parade of death and despair”.