Recently, Tom Hanks joked about his new film, “A Beautiful Day in Neighborhood” where he portrays the role of Fred Rogers who was the children’s’ television star. He said playing that character was like “living hell” as Fred was such a complex character.
Tom Hanks at a private press conference told the summary of the film. The press conference was held by the star cast and the production team in Toronto. It was held just the next day after the film’s worldwide premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film focuses on the relationship of Mr. Fred Rogers who is regarded as a mysterious icon of American kids’ TV and Lloyd Vogel who is a reporter from Esquire magazine. The role of Fred Rogers is played by Tom Hanks and the role of the reporter is portrayed by Matthew Rhys.
Tom talked about one of the difficult takes he had to do which required multiple takes. It was the opening scene which had a complicated choreography. The scene required him to sing, take off his jacket, put his sweater, take off his shoes and tie the shoelaces while looking straight into the camera. The director of the film laughing said that the scene took 22 re-takes to perfect.
While Hanks was laughing, the director surprised him by revealing that she made Tom work hard more than required because, in the TV show, Rogers had his laces tied up to facilitate the choreography. This was something which didn’t happen in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Tom Hanks said that he never liked Rogers while growing up. This is because it was black and white and the dolls that were shown moved or opened their mouth while they talked. This made it look unrealistic. It was after watching his tapes for several times he stopped questioning Roger and acknowledged his work.