Director Says Tom Hanks' Mr. Roggers Movie Is Not a Biopic
Director Marielle Heller of "You Are My Friend" starring Tom Hanks has made clear that contrary to previous teasers, the upcoming movie is not going to be a biopic.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heller said that while the film has been characterized as a biographical depiction of Fred Rogers as a beloved children's show host and pop cultural icon, this will not be the case. According to the director, the movie will largely focus on the interaction between the award-winning journalist Tom Junod and the "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" star while the former was writing an assignment for Esquire magazine in 1998. It will center on how Junod's life changed after knowing Rogers.
"It's a story for our times, a story about kindness and family connection and trying to tap into our better self. God knows we need that right now!" Heller said. "In the research for the movie, the writers found that more people than they could possibly count credited Mr. Rogers with changing their lives.... [It's about] one man who's in a critical point in his life — becoming a new father, having issues with his own father — and meeting Mr. Rogers to write a piece about him, thinking it's going to be a bit of a puff piece, but it ends up changing his entire life," she added.
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In January, it was announced that TriStar Pictures would hold the distribution rights for "You Are My Friend," with Hanks as the lead. Heller, the director of "Diary of a Teenage Girl," will be manning the helm, while the screenplay would be written by Emmy-nominated Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf and Youree Henley will serve as producers, while Leah Holzer of Big Beach Films will executive produce, together with Fitzerman-Blue and Harper. Production will reportedly start this September in the fall.
In the recent interview, Heller said that they have not done much yet, especially in the characterization of the TV icon. She also said that more details will reportedly be discussed later in the summer. According to Heller, she and Hanks have had a lot of conversations about how they want to depict Rogers.
"We haven't done any work on character yet.... We won't be there until later in the summer, probably. But, we've had a lot of conversations about the character and he understands the essence of Mr. Rogers," Heller explained. "The response to that casting has been overwhelmingly positive, because even though he doesn't look exactly like [him], essence wise, he's in the same vein," the director added.
Meanwhile, a trailer for the documentary about the "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" star has been released. Directed by Morgan Neville, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" is a biopic of Rogers' life as a TV personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and minister. Based on the reports, it will feature archival footage and never-before-seen clips of the icon and his legacy in the American television, as his show bravely addressed the then-controversial issues like civil rights and divorce. The docu previously debuted Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and received good reviews from critiques and viewers alike.
