Joanna Rogers attended a screening of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and feels Tom Hanks has done a great job of portraying her husband. Speaking to Page Six, Rogers shared her praises for the job Hanks did in the upcoming biopic.
“I think he would have really loved it, don’t you?” she said.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Ironically enough, Hanks recently discovered that he and the man he’s portraying share a family member. Thanks to some help from Ancestry.com, Hanks was informed that they are sixth cousins. While it may be quite far down the family tree, Hanks was happy to learn of another piece of his background, telling E! News that “it all just comes together.”
“It’s no surprise they are related as the similarities between the two are uncanny,” explained Ancestry.com’s director of research, Jennifer Utley, in a statement. “Even if we don’t know it, our pasts impact our present.”
The film is set to release on Nov. 22. It will provide a look at the life of Fred Rogers and his iconic television show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The movie will use Matthew Rhys, who plays the part of a journalist whose assignment is to provide a profile for Esquire on Rogers, as the catalyst for sharing his journey.
In an interview with Trib Live, Rhys discussed how he prepared for his role. He admitted he didn’t know much about the television show considering he didn’t grow up in the states, but explained how he showed his son the episodes and quickly realized the impact Mister Rogers had on children.
“I soon understood that what Fred was doing was incredibly and meticulously thought out. The timing of his speech was very deliberate so the children could not only follow him and feel like they were being listened to but have the time to process it,” he said. “And when we started our son on the show, the first thing he said was, “He’s talking to me.” So, through his eyes, I already began to see what Fred could do. As a result, I certainly changed a number of things about what I was doing.”
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired for 31 seasons from 1968 to 2001. Over its long run, there were 912 episodes produced. The set for the television show was at WQED Studios in Pittsburgh. Wanting to keep things as true as they could be, the upcoming biopic also was shot in the Steel City.
