'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' premieres in Pittsburgh
Tom Hanks stars as Fred Rogers in new movie about children's television host
Tom Hanks stars as Fred Rogers in new movie about children's television host
Tom Hanks stars as Fred Rogers in new movie about children's television host
Joanne Rogers says seeing her life with husband Fred Rogers portrayed on the big screen is like a dream.
Mrs. Rogers joined crew members from "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" for the movie's Pittsburgh premiere at SouthSide Works Cinema on Wednesday night.
Mister Rogers movie premiere in Pittsburgh: See the red-carpet event in the video player above.
"I've never had an experience like this before, and I hate to see it go away," Joanne Rogers told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 reporter Brittany Hoke.
The film tells the real life story of Fred Rogers' relationship with journalist Tom Junod. In 1998, Junod was assigned to write a piece on heroes, featuring Rogers.
"He was unlike anyone I'd ever met in my life, and we became friends," said Junod, who attended the movie premiere. "He also became, to me, a very genuine American hero."
Director Marielle Heller said having a premiere in Pittsburgh was something they wanted to do from the beginning.
"I think the thing about Pittsburgh is you can feel the reverberations of Fred everywhere you go. You feel the way he's influenced the culture of this city in a really beautiful way," Heller said.
The movie hits theaters nationwide Friday. It will begin showing at several Pittsburgh-area theaters on Thursday afternoon.