The first picture of Tom Hanks in his latest film role as a beloved children’s television host has been released.
The Oscar-winning actor will portray Fred Rogers, affectionately known as Mister Rogers, in movie with the working title You Are My Friend.
Rogers was a household name in the US as host of the long-running educational children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
He died in 2003 aged 74.
Tom Hanks is Mister Rogers, coming to a neighborhood near you October 2019. pic.twitter.com/2TP3eiPUCx
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) September 27, 2018
In a picture released by Sony Pictures on Twitter, American actor Hanks, 62, is seen for the first time as Rogers, sitting down wearing a bright red cardigan over a shirt and tie teamed with khaki trousers.
His hair and eyebrows are dyed grey.
The photo was captioned: “Tom Hanks is Mister Rogers, coming to a neighborhood near you October 2019.”
Hanks, considered one of the outstanding actors of his generation, has experience of playing real people having done so in films including Apollo 13, Captain Phillips and The Post.
Earlier this year, You Are My Friend director Marielle Heller told Entertainment Weekly that the movie was “not a biopic”.
“I disliked that when it got announced it was characterised as such, It’s really not.
“It’s a movie that’s largely focused on a reporter and (Mr Rogers’) relationship to his life, and how (the reporter’s) whole world changes when coming in contact with Fred Rogers.”