Ron Howard Reveals the Text He Sent to JD Vance After the 2024 Presidential Election
- - Ron Howard Reveals the Text He Sent to JD Vance After the 2024 Presidential Election
Tommy McArdleAugust 13, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Ron Howard on May 28, 2025; JD Vance on July 17, 2024 -
Ron Howard revealed that he sent U.S. Vice President JD Vance a text message following the 2024 presidential election in a new interview with Vulture
Howard directed an adaptation of Vance's 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy in 2020
"It remains a bit of a surprise to me," Howard said of Vance's politics since working with him
Ron Howard is sharing the contents of a text message he sent U.S. Vice President JD Vance after the 2024 presidential election.
Howard, 71, briefly discussed Vance, 41, while speaking with Vulture for an interview published Wednesday, Aug. 13 as the legendary filmmaker promotes his upcoming movie Eden. Howard and Vance famously worked together on Howard's 2020 movie Hillbilly Elegy, which was adapted from Vance's 2016 memoir of the same name.
During the interview, Howard was asked what — and if — he thinks about his adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy and the public response to it, now that Vance currently serves as Donald Trump's vice president.
"I don’t think about it. I know it’s a mixed bag and probably quite culturally divided. I also know that reviews were bad and the audience-reaction rating was pretty good," Howard said of the film. When Howard was asked if he and Vance have interacted at all in the years since the movie's release, Howard added, "I did one text, after the election, which was just sort of 'Godspeed. Try to serve us well.' "
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Ron Howard; JD Vance
Vance's Hillbilly Elegy is a depiction of his upbringing in Ohio and family's background in Appalachia. Gabriel Basso portrayed Vance in Howard's movie, while Amy Adams, Glenn Close and Haley Bennett portrayed his mother, grandmother and sister, respectively. The movie was received negatively by critics; it carries just 24% approval from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, though 81% of viewers indicate enjoying the film.
Elsewhere in Howard's Vulture interview, he admitted to being caught off guard by Vance's politics since working with him.
"It remains a bit of a surprise to me," Howard said. "I would not have seen it coming, and I wouldn’t have expected his rhetoric to be as divisive as it sometimes is. By the way, I’m not following him or listening to every word."
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Ron Howard on Oct. 17, 2024
Howard's Hillbilly Elegy adaptation released before Vance first embarked on his U.S. Senate campaign in 2021. He was elected to represent Ohio in 2022.
Howard previously said that he was "very surprised and disappointed by much of the rhetoric" that Vance ran for vice president with during an interview with Deadline in September 2024, and he maintained that sentiment while speaking with Vulture.
"I can’t speak to that," Howard said, when Vulture noted that some have suggested the negative response to Hillbilly Elegy may have spurred Vance's turn toward far-right political beliefs. "When I was working with him, all his quotes about the administration were very public. He was trying to run an investment fund. So the run for Senate and the strategy he’s chosen to follow are not what I would’ve expected."
Howard's new movie Eden is in theaters Aug. 22.
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