Gabriel Basso says actors should ‘shut the fuck up’ and that they have no authority to publicly bestow political views

The actor who portrayed JD Vance in the Oscar-nominated film Hillbilly Elegy before the latter man became the vice-president of the US has said his fellow thespians should “shut the fuck up” rather than express their political opinions.

Gabriel Basso – now starring in the hit Netflix series The Night Agent – made those comments on a recent episode of the Great Company podcast, cutting a stark contrast with his director on Hillbelly Elegy, Ron Howard, who previously described himself as “surprised and concerned” from the campaign that ultimately left Vance a heartbeat away from the US presidency.