The iconic role Tom Hanks needed to be talked into playing: “They looked at me like I’d performed a miracle”
It takes a lot of years, and even more hard work, for an actor to find themselves in a position where they can be selective about the movies they do or don’t make, which left Tom Hanks balanced precariously on the fence when he was offered the chance to bring an iconic figure to the big screen.
Since cracking the upper echelons of the Hollywood hierarchy with Big, Hanks has remained one of cinema’s biggest stars. It also helps that he’s one of his generation’s best actors, too, giving him the combination that every aspiring star dreams of: dramatic heft and box office bankability.
With two Academy Awards for ‘Best Actor’, seven Primetime Emmys, and four Golden Globes as an actor and producer, there’s never been a chance of ‘America’s Dad’ slipping from his illustrious perch. As a result, if there’s a part that he’s not 100% convinced that he should play, it takes a hell of a lot of effort from a filmmaker to change his mind.
There aren’t many people in the entertainment industry, past or present, who can be called more wholesome, endearing, or universally beloved than Hanks. It’s an incredibly short list, but no matter who you ask, one of the names that will always be on it is Fred Rogers.
The creator, executive producer, showrunner, and host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood became a staple in the upbringing of several generations, with the TV show airing over 900 episodes across 31 seasons. On paper, Hanks playing Rogers seemed obvious. A little too obvious, in fact, with Marielle Heller facing an uphill battle to twist his arm and have him don the famous red jumper for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
One of America’s most beloved performers being cast as one of America’s most beloved performers was a no-brainer on every level, but there was still one massive obstacle to clear. Even though the Forrest Gump frontman was the one name at the top of the wish-list ever since Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster started writing the screenplay, he’d already turned it down three times.
Once Heller signed on, she made it her personal mission to convince him. Fortunately, she was already friends with the actor’s son, Colin, which meant that she was also aware that his father had been keeping a close eye on her career from afar after being impressed with her first two features, The Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me?
One heart-to-heart later, and Hanks had agreed to embody Rogers, leaving the rest of the key creatives in disbelief. “They all looked at me like I’d just performed a miracle,” Heller told Backstage. “They could not believe that I had done it. I was like, ‘I will never be this cool again in my life!'”
Sometimes, the most obvious casting is the best casting, and that was true of Hanks as Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. It earned him his first Oscar nomination in almost 20 years, and his first in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category in what turned out to be the film’s only nod, with Heller’s perseverance paying huge dividends.
