Making its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) from Sony Pictures was their upcoming film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” the biopic starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers.
The movie also stars Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”), Susan Kelechi Watson (“This Is Us”), and Chris Cooper (Adaptation).
Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) directed the film from a screenplay by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. The film is loosely based on a 1998 Esquire article and follows award-winning journalist Tom Junod (Matthew Rhys) who is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers (Hanks) but is doubtful of Rogers’ optimism.
An award-winning cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), grudgingly accepts an assignment to write an Esquire profile of the beloved television icon Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks). Vogel’s perspective on life is transformed after his encounter with Rogers.
For Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Lloyd’s wife Andrea, this is her big screen role since she’s appeared on NBC’s critically acclaimed drama series, This Is Us. Prior to that, she’s appeared in numerous TV series, including a recurring role on FX’s Louie.
Blackfilm.com caught up with Susan as she was in Toronto to talk about her role and the film.
The film opens in theaters November 22nd.
What was the attraction to doing this film?
Susan Kelechi Watson: There was so many things. First of all, the love of Mister Rogers, growing up on Mister Rogers, and what a powerful figure he was for me as a child and to be a part of that nostalgia was awesome. Knowing that Tom Hanks was playing Mister Rogers is like, “how can you go wrong?” And then Marielle Heller being the director and I didn’t know her before then. But after speaking with her and and hearing her vision for the film and know what she did with ‘Diary of a Teenage Girl’ and this was before ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ came out and then understanding what this script was I trusted that she knew what to do with this script. This seemed like something that’s right up her alley in terms of the creativity and that she would have to incorporate. It was just something that she understood; and the rest of the cast like Matthew Rhys and Chris Cooper. It really felt like a no brainer. I’m gonna do it.
How would you describe your character Andrea?
Susan Kelechi Watson: I would describe her as a career woman, wife, new mom, who’s trying to figure out life right now. I guess the best way to describe her. She’s just trying to figure it all out in the moment because everything is so new.
What’s your fondest memories of watching Mister Rogers?
Susan Kelechi Watson: I remember a lot of the songs. Last night there was a piece of a film that I had never seen before and they put Mister Rogers at the end singing “You’ve Got To Do It” that when it came on I literally started like body rolling in the back because I was like, “I remember this song” and I started singing along with it and so a lot of things stay with you. You don’t even realize what stays with you. One of the main things I always felt like when he was looking through the camera he really did feel like he was talking directly to you, which I always really appreciated about him.
What part of Andrea is you?
Susan Kelechi Watson: Maybe the part of her that’s trying to be patient. I try to be patient but I think maybe that part and the part that’s trying to figure it out where she is right now. Those are two parts that I connect to.
Andrea and Beth are a lot alike. Is it a challenge not to take on similar roles?
Susan Kelechi Watson: You’re right, there was a lot of similarities. I think the challenge is always to find what’s different. Because I would never want a character to be like, “Oh, that’s just Beth with the white man.” You don’t want it to ever be just the same character. So the challenge is always finding what is different and that’s the fun part. It’s a role I could slip into easily. But it’s still on me to figure out how she’s different from everybody else. So I hope that I did that with her.
You are already a mom on the series but with this film, you’re a mom to be a newborn. How was that feeling like?
Susan Kelechi Watson: I would say this was different. They were so they were adorable triplets, two girls and a boy. You get them on set for 20 minutes at a time. Then maybe there’s a two hour window, and it’s like 20 minutes and that’s it. So it’s actually all happens very quick but we connected with these babies and their parents. Two young parents who are probably in their late 20s, early 30s, or something like that. They have like eight kids or something. They’re just the most loving people and they were really lovely babies. They all had different qualities. Like if we needed one to be really quiet, we had one who did that really well, if we wanted one to be a little more animated, or if we wanted the crier. We had a have everything in the three of them. So it was pretty easy. Like I said, the time I spent with them was short. It was quality time, but it went really quickly.
How much time did you spend with Matthew to establish chemistry?
Susan Kelechi Watson: Not much. It was like we did one rehearsal the day before we started or a couple of days before we started shooting. Then Matthew and I got on really well. Matthew is a great guy, great sense of humor, just cool as hell down to earth. That helps when you just have a rapport with somebody. When everybody goes home and does their homework, and everybody comes back prepared, you know, he wants it to work just as much as I do. We’re putting in that energy to find that connection in the moment. I think that’s what makes the chemistry work.
There’s a moment in the film where Mister Rogers calls the house and you, as Andrea, pick up the phone and he calls you by your name and you’re surprised. When was the first time you were surprised that a celebrity knew your name?
Susan Kelechi Watson: That’s good question. Because I did have that moment. Who was it with? There’s probably more but I remember when I’m like Reese Witherspoon came up to me in the in the bathroom at like the Golden Globes or something like that. And was like, “Oh, my gosh, I love your character in This Is Us.” I was surprised by that and I was about to go to her and compliment her, because she looked really beautiful with this yellow dress. I was going to say something about this dress and she came up to me and said that and I was just like, “What?” and same type of love with like Niecy Nash and I saw Niecy Nash. She was so loving and there’s so many people who have come up to me and just shown so much love and I haven’t met them before. They were so gracious and so welcoming and generous has been really nice.
This Is Us received a lot of Emmy nominations. You were snubbed but a number of your co-stars got Emmy love. As one of the few network shows still getting accolades in the age of cable and streaming sites, what’s that feeling like to know that the show is resonating with voters?
Susan Kelechi Watson: That made me feel so good. Obviously, people were expressing how they felt about me not getting a nomination. But I gotta tell you when those nine other nominations came in, and for best show, I was like, “We’re still here.”This is really exciting that people are paying that type of attention to us. Critics are paying that type of attention to us still. The public is still with us and riding the journey with us. That does not get old. I don’t care what people say, it does not get old. So it’s a good feeling. To quote Mr. Rogers, “It’s a good feeling.”
What can we expect from Beth in the upcoming season?
Susan Kelechi Watson: I think her and Randall are settled. I think there’s going to be a lot more happening with the kids this season in the past and in the future. So looking at that and settling into Philly and all that that means because there’s going to be a lot of family adjustment in Philly. This season, more than any other I feel a lot of focus is on each individual’s family. So Randall and my whole family, and then Kate and Toby’s family, and Justin and Nikki in that family, so everything feels like everybody’s focusing in on their families this season.
Now that you’re back to doing films, when you be create some space in your schedule to do more?
Susan Kelechi Watson: Yeah, I’m always working toward those opportunities. It’s a great thing to be able to branch out a bit because sometimes people see you as one thing. That’s great when they identify with you in that way, but you also know that as an artist is so many things you want to do. So this gives me an opportunity for people to come to the movies and see me. Which is a whole different medium, and one that I love. So I am starting to do a lot more film.
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