Anyone who has seen the NBC drama This Is Us knows very well how the show is adept at appealing at showcasing the nuances of family dynamics. Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Beth Pearson, is a crucial component to the show’s formula. Parlaying her success on This Is Us to film, Watson is taking her family appeal from the small screen to the silver screen.

Deadline has exclusively reported that Watson will star alongside two-time Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks and The Americans’ star Matthew Rhys in You Are My Friend, the biopic chronicling the life of everyone’s favorite neighbor and children’s TV host, Fred Rogers.

The film, directed by Marielle Heller from a script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, chronicles the friendship between Rogers (Hanks) and journalist Tom Junod (Rhys). The film will also be executive produced by Harpster , Fitzerman Blue and Leah Holzer under the Sony TriStar banner.

Fans of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood will remember that Fred Rogers was the subject of the recent acclaimed hit documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor.

Fans of Susan Kelechi Watson can her star as Beth Pearson in the third season of This Is Us, which is slated to premiere on NBC on September 25.

Watson’s addition to the cast of You Are My Friend is more than welcome, as her experience on a family oriented television drama will cetrainly come in handy if You Are My Friend is the lighthearted tearjerker we expect it to be.

Fred Rogers

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