Glenn Close praises JD Vance family as 'generous' during 'Hillbilly Elegy' filming

Glenn Close tells 'The View' JD Vance's family was 'generous' on 'Hillbilly Elegy' set, as hosts take political jabs

Actress Glenn Close told the co-hosts of ‘The View’ on Wednesday that Vice President-elect JD Vance's family was 'generous' when they visited the set of 'Hillbilly Elegy.'

Actress Glenn Close told the co-hosts of "The View" on Wednesday that Vice President-elect JD Vance's family was "generous" while they were filming the movie adaptation of his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy."

Co-host Joy Behar asked Close about her Oscar-nominated role as Vance's grandmother "Mamaw" in the 2020 movie, which portrayed his hardscrabble upbringing in Ohio. Close said he and his family visited the set and Vance helped the young actor who played him as a boy in the film with the role.

"We all met members of the family. We all sat with them individually, you know, one-on-one and, for me, with Mamaw, I'd say, ‘how did she walk into a room, how did she sit, how did she smoke, how did she laugh, how did she change the chemistry?’ So that was, you know, the family was very generous with their time," Close said.

She then paused and said of Vance, "I don't know what happened," seemingly in reference to his conservative politics. Close is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party, and she said power was an "aphrodisiac."

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Actress Glenn Close joined the co-hosts of "The View" on Wednesday and was asked about her role in the 2020 film "Hillbilly Elegy." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

Behar and co-host Sunny Hostin made some jabs directed at Vance during the discussion. Vance, bolstered by the attention from the book and film adaptation, ran successfully for the U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2022 before being tapped as Donald Trump's 2024 running mate.

"He had a whole different personality in those days than he has now," Behar said. "A lot of people out there are like that. ‘The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,’ I think, is the name of that movie."

Hostin chimed in, "Well, now he's talking about childless cat ladies."

Reviews at the time claimed the film "Hillbilly Elegy" fell short in depicting the working class. "The politically conservative, anti-welfare streak in the author’s writing feels surgically removed," Rolling Stone's David Fear wrote, while The Independent's critic Clarisse Loughrey deemed it an "irresponsible parade of death and despair."

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign rally at the Elite Jet at Contact Aviation facility in Waterford, Michigan, on Oct. 24, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Addressing the criticism in 2020, Close said that the Netflix movie "wasn't made with politics in mind."

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Variety's chief film critic suggested in July that Vance may have risen to become President-elect Trump's vice president "thanks to Hollywood’s help."

"It was that dimension of Vance’s narrative that clearly attracted director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer — both self-avowed liberals, who may have created a monster by legitimizing his origin story, much as ‘The Apprentice’ producer Mark Burnett did by giving Trump a reality TV spotlight back in 2004," Variety's Peter Debruge wrote.

Vance's 2016 memoir was a bestseller and drew attention for bringing to light the socioeconomic woes of Appalachian culture, as well as addressing issues like addiction and violence among working-class Americans.