What Hillbilly Elegy's Gabriel Basso Really Thinks About JD Vance

Fans may know actor Gabriel Basso from his role on "The Night Agent" or in the horror movie "The Strangers: Chapter 1," but he actually played JD Vance in the biopic "Hillbilly Elegy" first. The Ron Howard-directed film was adapted from the memoir of the same name written by Vice President JD Vance, and it premiered on Netflix four years prior to Vance and Donald Trump winning the election.

The movie came out before Vance became a Republican senator — later VP — and before he started making the news every single day for his complicated relationship with Trump and his unofficial feud with Elon Musk. "Hillbilly Elegy" tells Vance's tragic, real-life story, and Basso helped bring it to the small screen. However, now that Vance has become a controversial figure in American politics, does Basso regret portraying him? The actor told the Associated Press he didn't have any guilt for taking on that role.

While Basso admitted it was surreal to realize he and Vance are now linked together forever through this film, and that his name pops up when people search Vance's name online, he doesn't look back on the experience with regret. "At the time, he wasn't even in politics," Basso explained. Vance was just someone he played in a movie and that was that. Clearly, Basso isn't overthinking the situation now that Vance has become (maybe) the second-most powerful man in the country.

Many of the commenters on TikTok about the Associated Press interview were flabbergasted as to why the interviewer would ask Gabriel Basso if he had any regrets. Several thought it should be viewed as an honor that Basso got to play JD Vance, and others felt like the question was meant as a trap — one Basso didn't fall for during the interview. "That was a great response because we know she wanted him to say something negative about Vance," wrote one person. Though there are many controversies surrounding "Hillbilly Elegy," that doesn't take away from Basso's performance in the film, something several users on TikTok felt like he nailed perfectly.

Interestingly, Basso's co-star, Glenn Close, who played Vance's grandmother, was also asked about her thoughts on the movie now that Vance is in the White House. Keeping things professional, Close never badmouthed Vance when she stopped by "The View." Instead, she praised Vance's family for being so kind and "generous with their time" while they were making the film. She did say, with a smirk, "I don't know what happened," when co-host Joy Behar asked her about Vance's personality shift from the making of the movie to today.

Clearly, Basso and Close know not to make a mess where they eat, because you never know what will come back to bite you.