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Tom Hanks: In a League of His Own

With a joy for life and a knack for kindness, the superstar is now playing one of TV's most beloved icons in the new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

At first glance it doesn't seem like that big a stretch for Tom Hanks to play Mister Rogers.

Cast as the children's-TV icon in the new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the Oscar winner has a way of projecting a positive energy-a palpable kindness-on anything he touches, much as Fred Rogers did in his three decades on public television before his death in 2003.

But to those who know Hanks well, the two men are "very different people," says costar Matthew Rhys.

"Tom is incredibly fast, sharp-witted, humorous in that lightning-quick way, and he moves and talks very differently from Fred Rogers."

Hanks admits his biggest challenge was "slowing down," as he told CBS This Morning, insisting that it was "terrifying" to take on the role of such a treasured public figure.

The actor "worked hard at it," says the film's producer Peter Saraf. "Not just getting Fred's slow pace but his uncompromised listening, his intuition."

Intent on not doing an impersonation of Rogers, Hanks was outfitted with only a wig, eyebrows and, of course, the host's trademark cardigan.

"It was an embodiment and an essence," Rhys adds. "And when you see the transformation, you realize that wily old fox Hanks has gone and done it again."