Casting of Mister Rogers Feels Like a No-Brainer

A movie about Mister Rogers is in the works, and the casting of the title role probably didn't take very long. Tom Hanks will do the honors, reports Variety. Or as the Washington Post puts it, "one of the country’s most likable actors ... will portray one of the country’s most likable entertainers ever." It was "meant to be," adds USA Today. Production on You Are My Friend starts later this year, with Marielle Heller directing. It's based on the account of journalist Tom Junod, who begrudgingly set out to write a profile of Fred Rogers for Esquire in 1998 "and finds his perspective on life transformed," per Variety. Rogers died in 2003, but his Mister Rogers' Neighborhood lives on. (More Mister Rogers' Neighborhood stories.)