Fred Rogers was known to be extremely difficult to interview because he cared more about the person interviewing him than he did about being interviewed and would often use the time to befriend the person interviewing him.
This movie is based on the article "Can You Say...'Hero'?" by 汤姆·朱诺德, which was published in the November 1, 1998, issue of Esquire Magazine. In 2019, before the release of this film, Junod wrote an article in The Atlantic that was partly about this process. It started, "A long time ago, a man of resourceful and relentless kindness saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. He trusted me when I thought I was untrustworthy, and took an interest in me that went beyond my initial interest in him. He was the first person I ever wrote about who became my friend, and our friendship endured until he died. Now a movie has been made from the story I wrote about him, which is to say "inspired by" the story I wrote about him, which is to say that in the movie my name is Lloyd Vogel and I get into a fistfight with my father at my sister's wedding. I did not get into a fistfight with my father at my sister's wedding. My sister didn't have a wedding."
In an interview on CBS今晨新闻 (1992), 汤姆·汉克斯 described playing 弗雷德·罗杰斯 as "terrifying" due to Rogers' immense cultural and social influence. He credited Joanne Rogers, who served as a consultant on the film, with helping him to craft an honest and believable representation of her late husband. Joanne also gave Hanks several of Fred's neckties which Hanks wore in the film.
The puppets used in the film are not the originals but instead are meticulous recreations by the puppet makers for 芝麻街 (1969). The director confirmed this during the 2019 London Film Festival.
During the TIFF post-film panel, 汤姆·汉克斯 mentions how he wishes he and his son (科林·汉克斯) at 3 years old had watched a half-hour of Mr. Rogers a week so he could have learned that it is okay to be sad. Hanks feels children don't learn the importance of expressing emotions from a young age, and Mr. Rogers did an excellent job explaining this.
玛丽埃尔·海勒 is longtime friends with 汤姆·汉克斯's son Colin and met the former at a birthday party in which she pitched him the project. Heller claimed that access was fortunate because Hanks had put out the word through his agency that he wanted a break from playing real-life people and to not send him those scripts.
汤姆·汉克斯 claimed that the hardest part about playing 弗雷德·罗杰斯 was slowing down his speaking tempo, and he would do meditation and relaxation exercises before filming to get in the right mood. Between takes, he would resume rapid fire patter and drink lots of coffee.
During production, 玛丽埃尔·海勒 insisted on the cast and crew working "French hours" (an industry term which means a 10-hour day without a break for lunch). She did this so she would be able to get home in time to get her son to sleep. She also did this out of respect to Fred Rogers, since she believed he would not want the cast and crew overworked to a point where they could not spend time with their families.
The writers said the film took so long to be made because they worked with the estate tirelessly to ensure the accuracy of the film. They were given access to the archives to ensure it was "right". "Once we found Mari [玛丽埃尔·海勒] it happened", they mentioned, feeling she was the final piece of the puzzle.
Third time 汤姆·汉克斯 has played a distant cousin of his. He also is distantly related to 华特·迪士尼, who he played in 大梦想家 (2013), and Benjamin C. Bradlee, who he played in 华盛顿邮报 (2017).
According to producers and contrary to early belief, the film is not a biopic of 弗雷德·罗杰斯. Rather, the film centers around journalist 汤姆·朱诺德 (here called Lloyd Vogel) and his experience interviewing Rogers, and the impact it had on him.
In Mr. Rogers' house in the show there is a painting on the wall. When Lloyd goes to Fred Rogers' "real" house, this same painting is on the wall, albeit slightly bigger.
Every location change in the movie was depicted with a scaled-down model of each place, much like an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) whenever Mr. Rogers himself would go from his house to another location.
汤姆·汉克斯's son, 科林·汉克斯, previously played Mr. Rogers in an episode of Drunk History (2013), dramatizing the time Rogers spoke before a Senate Committee to defend federal funding for PBS: Drunk History: Underdogs (2018).
Released the year after the documentary 你不会是我的邻居吗? (2018), which featured interviews with 汤姆·朱诺德 whose story inspired this film. Both films were first released in film festivals and garnered numerous award nominations.
汤姆·汉克斯 claimed he and 玛丽埃尔·海勒 attended the documentary of 你不会是我的邻居吗? (2018) while developing this movie and admitted to being so impressed that afterwards he turned to Heller and asked, "Is there a reason to make our movie?"
Emmy Award winner Jim Emswiller fell from a balcony around 7:30pm on October 12, 2018 during a break in filming in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The 61-year-old Pittsburgh man died later at a hospital. Emswiller was involved in the sound production of the film. Mount Lebanon police say Emswiller fell over a brick wall on the balcony at an apartment building. A dedication of this movie to Emswiller appears in the closing credits.
The first scene of the movie is based on the episode 1506 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: 1506: Friends (1982) from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968), which started with Mr. Rogers showing the viewers a picture board and talking about friends. However, the picture board used in the original show looked different. Besides Lady Aberlin and Mr. McFeely, it also had pictures of Police Officer Clemmons, Music Shop owner Joe Negri, Cleaning Lady Audrey Roth, and workshop operator Bob Trow. In this episode, Mr. Rogers introduced his friend and shoe salesman Buzz Wagner (who was behind the central door on the picture board) and his son Greg.
The relatively small cast includes three Oscar winners. 克里斯汀·拉蒂 for Best Live Action Short Film for Lieberman in Love (1995), 克里斯·库珀 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for 改编剧本 (2002) and 汤姆·汉克斯 is a back to back winner as Best Actor in a Leading Role (1994 and 1995).
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) won 4 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming - 弗雷德·罗杰斯, Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series, Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series - 弗雷德·罗杰斯 and Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series - 弗雷德·罗杰斯.
In a scene in the feature film 地狱来的芳邻 (1989), 汤姆·汉克斯's character Ray Peterson is watching a television episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968). Thirty years later, Hanks would go on to portray 弗雷德·罗杰斯 in this feature film.
On Friday, January 25, 2019, Sony Pictures announced that they would be pushing the film's release date back from October 18, 2019 to November 22, 2019.
马修·瑞斯, who plays journalist Lloyd Vogel, has called actress 莎莉·菲尔德 his best friend and mentor. Co-star 汤姆·汉克斯 played 莎莉·菲尔德's son in his Oscar winning role, 阿甘正传 (1994).
The title of the film is A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, whereas the lyrics for the song during the opening Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) are, "It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood...". This was likely an intentional decision and not a misquote.
Mr. McFeely was an actual character in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968), famous for his catchphrase, "Speedy Delivery". In 荒岛余生 (2000),汤姆·汉克斯 played a character concerned with the speed of deliveries with FedEx.
Director 玛丽埃尔·海勒 said during the 2019 London Film Festival that Hanks's extended look at the camera in the restaurant scene was the first artistic decision she made on the film. The script had this down as just a moment, where one could not be certain if he was looking at the audience. Heller prolonged this, making sure viewers knew he was looking at them.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) started on WQED in Pittsburgh as "Children's Corner," with the host being Josie Carey. 弗雷德·罗杰斯 was the producer. The show already had King Friday XIII and several other of the well-known characters. Ms. Carey wrote several major song lyrics including the then-well known "Good Night, God," to end the show. The show targeted very young children (3-4), offering membership in the "Tame Tiger" organization. A tiger outline was available by mail; kids could fill in a stripe for every good deed they did. When Josie Carey left the show to get married, Fred Rogers took over the lead role and "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" was born, with largely the same puppet characters, but targeting a slightly older, but still preschool, audience (4-6).
Archival footage of Mr. Rogers on famous talk shows was edited with swapping in 汤姆·汉克斯. This also occurred in 阿甘正传 (1994) with adding Gump to specific historical scenes.
In Lloyd's dream sequence in the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" where Lloyd has the "Old Rabbit" ears and meets "X" the Owl (in his brief cameo), King Friday XIII, Daniel and Lady Aberlin, Mr. Rogers appears himself. In the original "Neighborhood" episodes, while playing the puppet characters there, Mr. Rogers never actually visited the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" as himself and only sent the Neighborhood-Trolley there and appeared only after the segment in his house.
At the end of the film after wrapping his TV episode, 弗雷德·罗杰斯 is seen rubbing his back in discomfort. This may be a subtle reference to the real 弗雷德·罗杰斯 's death from stomach cancer in 2003, which he had been diagnosed with after years of experiencing pains.