Hillbilly Elegy is a 2020 American biographical drama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Vanessa Taylor, based on the 2016 memoir of the same name by the 50th vice president of the United States JD Vance. The film stars Amy Adams and Glenn Close, with Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins in his final film appearance, and Owen Asztalos starring in supporting roles. After buying the rights to Vance's book in 2017, Imagine Entertainment announced Howard as the film's director. In January 2019, Netflix acquired the distribution rights, with much of the cast joined in April and filming taking place from June through August in Georgia and Ohio.