WEBVTT 00:01.200 --> 00:03.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally: a tribute to an icon. 00:03.300 --> 00:08.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Fred Rogers hosted almost 900 episodes of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" over 31 seasons 00:09.833 --> 00:12.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% on public broadcasting stations. 00:12.200 --> 00:17.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The film "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" opens today and explores the friendship that 00:18.400 --> 00:20.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Rogers forged with a magazine writer. 00:20.533 --> 00:25.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Jeffrey Brown talked with the stars of that film, Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys, in New York. 00:27.500 --> 00:31.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% FRED ROGERS, Television Personality (singing): It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, 00:33.933 --> 00:37.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% a beautiful day for a neighbor. 00:37.033 --> 00:39.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% TOM HANKS, Actor (singing): Would you be mine? 00:39.133 --> 00:43.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Tom Hanks has morphed into many characters over his storied film career. 00:44.900 --> 00:47.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But in Fred Rogers, he says, he met his match. 00:47.733 --> 00:51.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The film "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" was directed by Marielle Heller. 00:51.966 --> 00:56.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% TOM HANKS: Mari, who is ironclad in her discussions about what she's going to do, she said, essentially, 00:58.833 --> 00:59.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% you will get a wig. 00:59.833 --> 01:02.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You will get some eyebrow. 01:02.133 --> 01:04.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You will get a sweater and blue deck shoes. 01:04.700 --> 01:06.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The rest of it is up to you. 01:06.433 --> 01:08.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Do you know what this is? 01:08.133 --> 01:10.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% It's Lloyd. 01:10.266 --> 01:14.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: His foil is a driven and cynical journalist sent to write a profile of Mister 01:16.600 --> 01:21.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Rogers for "Esquire" magazine, and the film is based on a true encounter in 1998. 01:22.866 --> 01:26.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Played by Matthew Rhys, best known for his role as a Russian spy in "The Americans," 01:28.233 --> 01:30.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the journalist is confounded by the sincere... 01:30.133 --> 01:31.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% TOM HANKS: Wonderful to meet you. 01:31.133 --> 01:32.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So glad you're here, Lloyd. 01:32.133 --> 01:33.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'm looking forward to... 01:33.533 --> 01:35.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: ... and glacially paced Mister Rogers. 01:35.966 --> 01:40.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And, as it turns out, so was the Welsh actor Rhys. 01:40.033 --> 01:42.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So did you know Mister Rogers growing up in Wales? 01:42.133 --> 01:43.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% MATTHEW RHYS, Actor: Not a jot. 01:43.166 --> 01:44.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Not a jot. 01:44.166 --> 01:45.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: Nothing. 01:45.700 --> 01:47.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I dived into YouTube and thought, what's going on? 01:47.500 --> 01:49.533 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% I had no idea. 01:49.533 --> 01:52.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It seemed bizarre to me that this -- I was like, has he forgotten his lines? 01:52.733 --> 01:53.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Is that why speak so slow? 01:53.900 --> 01:55.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is -- what's happening? 01:55.000 --> 01:56.633 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 01:56.633 --> 01:58.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: What's been incredible was having a 3-year-old son. 01:58.266 --> 02:00.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: Yes, you have young kids. 02:00.100 --> 02:02.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: Yes. 02:02.633 --> 02:06.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And for him to be the conduit of what it truly is has been eye-opening and equal part groundbreaking. 02:08.000 --> 02:11.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Rhys would come to see what millions had: Fred Rogers was utterly unique 02:13.766 --> 02:18.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in the history of television, an ordained minister on a mission to reach, teach and 02:19.633 --> 02:22.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% help children be themselves. 02:22.233 --> 02:27.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He didn't shy from serious subjects, including divorce, death and racism. 02:28.633 --> 02:31.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And every child felt he was speaking directly to him or her. 02:31.500 --> 02:36.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I asked the two actors about their experience in Mister Rogers' neighborhood. 02:36.433 --> 02:41.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% For Hanks, as for many of us, one question lingered: Was this guy for real? 02:42.633 --> 02:43.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% TOM HANKS: What is he trying to sell? 02:43.833 --> 02:46.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Well, he wasn't trying to sell anything. 02:46.433 --> 02:48.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% He was trying to make little kids feel safe. 02:48.533 --> 02:53.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, for me as an actor, it's like, what are my myriad natural tendencies as a human being 02:56.966 --> 03:01.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that are going to have to be whipped into submission, so that I'm not falling into that 03:04.533 --> 03:07.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% same brand of cynical presentation? 03:07.033 --> 03:12.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There is a DNA that you sort of have to inject into yourself at the same time that you put 03:14.033 --> 03:18.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on that version of Batman's cape and cowl, except it's a red cardigan sweater and blue 03:18.866 --> 03:20.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% deck shoes. 03:20.900 --> 03:24.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The individual scenes between the two of us, of which there's five or six, of course, were 03:24.833 --> 03:27.200 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% exhausting. 03:27.200 --> 03:31.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% They were as physically exhausting and physiologically exhausting as any scenes I have ever played. 03:32.900 --> 03:34.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% MATTHEW RHYS: Do you consider yourself a hero? 03:34.533 --> 03:38.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% TOM HANKS: I don't think of myself as a hero, no, not at all. 03:38.933 --> 03:41.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: What about Mister Rogers? 03:41.500 --> 03:44.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Is he a hero? 03:44.266 --> 03:46.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% TOM HANKS: I don't understand the question. 03:46.333 --> 03:50.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MATTHEW RHYS: Well, there's you, Fred, and then there's the character you play, Mister 03:50.533 --> 03:53.066 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Rogers. 03:53.066 --> 03:56.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% These two men kind of circle each other with different intentions, but also -- but seemingly 03:56.366 --> 04:01.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the same tactics of waiting and questioning, until one either broke or opened up. 04:03.900 --> 04:08.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Rhys' character, here called Lloyd Vogel, visits the set to interview Fred 04:09.366 --> 04:11.466 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Rogers. 04:11.466 --> 04:15.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But Rogers wants only to know Vogel, to understand him and his struggles, especially his anger 04:17.133 --> 04:22.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% at a father who abandoned the family long ago and now seeks reconciliation and forgiveness. 04:24.000 --> 04:28.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TOM HANKS: If I was going to show you, admit to you what the first day of shooting was, 04:30.300 --> 04:34.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% you -- I would point out to you how I'm talking too fast, I'm not being as specific as I need 04:36.433 --> 04:41.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to, I'm not waiting for -- I'm not really listening, because I'm kind of, like, petrified. 04:42.500 --> 04:46.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And think about all the people who loved us into being. 04:46.833 --> 04:51.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MATTHEW RHYS: My perspective of you on that day is completely different. 04:51.166 --> 04:55.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And you kind of came in with this -- it was like -- it was like what they said about Rogers. 04:55.900 --> 05:00.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Everything slowed down, because you didn't dictate a tempo. 05:00.233 --> 05:01.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You actually just listened. 05:01.466 --> 05:04.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And that, in itself, dictates a tempo. 05:04.133 --> 05:06.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There is this moment I kind of had that, oh, God, he's got it. 05:06.600 --> 05:08.600 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% He's got it. 05:08.600 --> 05:13.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: With Fred Rogers, there's another element, because the question was, was he 05:16.300 --> 05:17.866 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% acting? 05:17.866 --> 05:21.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% So are you acting as Fred Rogers, who's acting as Mister Rogers? 05:21.866 --> 05:23.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% TOM HANKS: Absolutely. 05:23.166 --> 05:26.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% There is a performance that he was giving. 05:26.133 --> 05:31.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% There was -- there was rules that he was following that were based on his philosophy on how to 05:32.600 --> 05:34.700 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% do this. 05:34.700 --> 05:37.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: So, who was the real Fred Rogers or who was the real Mister Rogers? 05:37.900 --> 05:40.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% TOM HANKS: I heard an audiotape. 05:40.800 --> 05:45.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There was a child psychologist who is one of his great mentors that he -- that he discussed 05:47.766 --> 05:50.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% everything with in front of -- and they were talking about trying to come up with an opera 05:50.500 --> 05:52.633 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% for children. 05:52.633 --> 05:56.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And this lady had this kind of -- what I think what we could do is, is the thematic element 05:58.933 --> 06:03.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of the chorus here with the frog could actually be a bridge to the original theme of the first 06:08.533 --> 06:09.733 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% act. 06:09.733 --> 06:14.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Pause, pause, pause, pause. 06:14.533 --> 06:17.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And this is Mister Rogers now. 06:17.200 --> 06:22.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% If the frog could have a worry that he brings - - and these are just people talking. 06:25.833 --> 06:28.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% These are people at work trying to figure out how to... 06:28.900 --> 06:30.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 06:30.500 --> 06:32.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% TOM HANKS: This is like a production meeting that he's going on. 06:32.333 --> 06:35.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And he's still put that brand of thought to it. 06:35.300 --> 06:39.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MATTHEW RHYS: I think, to me, what seemingly the performance element is only to succeed 06:39.933 --> 06:44.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in a greater communication to that audience at which it is aimed. 06:44.200 --> 06:49.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Fred Rogers believed in the power of television, right, as a tool for 06:49.066 --> 06:53.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% change, a tool for reaching people. 06:53.000 --> 06:55.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Television hasn't really worked out that way. 06:55.066 --> 06:59.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% TOM HANKS: Well, he didn't change television on as a technology as an art form, but look 07:01.200 --> 07:04.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% what he created for a half-hour at a time, extraordinarily wise, smart things that made 07:06.066 --> 07:08.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% children understand the world a little bit better. 07:08.600 --> 07:13.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% If you only get a half-hour out of that once a day, I think you're still a half-hour ahead 07:13.366 --> 07:15.300 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% of the curve. 07:15.300 --> 07:16.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: What about in the general culture, a film like this? 07:16.733 --> 07:20.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Do you think there is a craving, a need for Fred Rogers? 07:20.866 --> 07:23.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TOM HANKS: Don't you think there's some, like, marketing executive, you know what we got 07:23.800 --> 07:24.800 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% here? 07:24.800 --> 07:26.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 07:26.266 --> 07:27.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% TOM HANKS: What we have here is counterprogramming. 07:27.066 --> 07:28.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: Yes. 07:28.300 --> 07:29.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% TOM HANKS: You see what I'm saying? 07:29.100 --> 07:31.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: I like it. 07:31.166 --> 07:31.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TOM HANKS: What we're going to do is, we're going to have a guy with the puppets. 07:31.966 --> 07:32.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% MATTHEW RHYS: Yes. 07:32.633 --> 07:33.300 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Oh, that's good. 07:33.300 --> 07:34.466 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% That's good. 07:34.466 --> 07:36.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% TOM HANKS: We will shoot it in Pittsburgh. 07:36.966 --> 07:37.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% No, I think it can work, if we hit it. 07:37.966 --> 07:39.400 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 07:39.400 --> 07:41.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% TOM HANKS: If we hit the counterprogramming situation. 07:41.366 --> 07:43.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MATTHEW RHYS: It is like this -- there's an incredible symphony going on at all times. 07:43.300 --> 07:47.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it's in the pause that sometimes the greatest potency is found. 07:47.666 --> 07:52.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I think, if we do that for a small number of people for a brief moment, so much so the 07:54.433 --> 07:56.466 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% better. 07:56.466 --> 08:00.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" ended its television run on PBS in 2001. 08:01.633 --> 08:06.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Fred Rogers died two years later at age 74. 08:08.366 --> 08:12.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The new film, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," opens today around the country. 08:13.766 --> 08:16.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in New York. 08:16.633 --> 08:21.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: A reminder we could sure use Fred Rogers right now. 08:21.000 --> 08:22.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I can't wait to see this film.