STACK #186 Apr 2020

FILM FEATURE

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The stars of A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood ,Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys, discuss the magic and mystery of US children'sTV personality Fred Rogers with STACK . Words Gill Pringle T om Hanks has played so many good guys in his career – Toy Story ’s Woody, Forrest Gump, Sully, Captain Phillips and so many have just sat them down in front of it,” says the actor who has four grown children. “I would’ve watched it with them to hear what they had to say when it was done because I would’ve been more patient, I would’ve were no gimmicks or catchphrases and, upon revisiting the show and exploring who Fred Rogers was for this film, Hanks says he finally realised “the origami of the brilliance of Mister Rogers.” For the usually quippy and energetic Hanks, slowing himself

more – but now he stars in a movie with the uncanny effect of tricking viewers into wanting to be as good a person as he is. For that is the magic of A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood , for which Hanks received his sixth Oscar nomination. Admittedly, he’s playing a guy no one outside of the US is likely to have heard of, but it somehow doesn’t matter. His warm and sympathetic portrayal of children’s TV personality Mister Rogers will leave viewers with a warm and fuzzy feeling. When STACK caught up with Hanks and the cast following the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, the actor admitted the feeling was contagious. “If I’d been smart, I would’ve watched Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood with all of my kids when they were of a certain age and I wouldn’t

understood the language in order to use with them, and I think I would have also just been able to communicate to them just the basic principles of happiness and serenity in the world.” Inspired by journalist Tom Junod’s Esquire article “Can You Say… Hero?” and directed by Marielle Heller ( Can You Ever

down and tapping into Fred Rogers’ cadence and tempo proved the biggest challenge. “For me, it was being able to find the quiet spaces inside spaces that had to be filled. It was quietness and not stillness, but slowness. Fred Rogers was not a glib man and I’ve made a living out of being

Tomwas kind of born to play Fred

glib, you know? He was not a smartass and I have turned being a smartass into a lucrative career,” he quips. Co-star Matthew Rhys, who plays cynical investigative journalist Lloyd Vogel, assigned to interview Rogers, says that

Forgive Me? ), Hanks was a pre-teen when Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood first aired in the US, featuring Fred Rogers – aka Mister Rogers – in a cozy red cardigan, comfy sneakers and some moth-eaten hand puppets, patiently discussing “feelings” with young children. There

26 APRIL 2020

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