Tom Hanks is no stranger to putting his acting skills to good use in the portrayal of real-life characters over the years. He’ll be doing it yet again, as the veteran actor has signed up to play TV Personality Mr. Rogers in the biopic You Are My Friend.

The film is inspired by a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and award-winning journalist Tom Junod. In the story, a cynical journalist begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write a profile piece on the beloved icon and finds his perspective on life transformed.

Rogers was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. Rogers was famous for creating, hosting, and composing the theme music for the educational preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968–2001), which featured his kind-hearted, grandfatherly personality, and directness to his audiences.

The Dairy of A Teenage Girl and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’s  Marielle Heller will be directing from a script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster.

Heller is extremely excited to be working on the script alongside Hanks and said “I’m thrilled to be making ‘You Are My Friend, The script knocked me out with its message of kindness and its exploration of the human spirit. As a mother, I am so inspired by the teachings of Fred Rogers and as a human, I am in awe of his life’s work. I can’t wait to bring his story to the public and be a part of such a thoughtful, smart group of people who are all coming together to make this film, which truly feels to me like an antidote to our very fractured culture.

Big Beach Films is producing with Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf producing for the company alongside Youree Henley (“The Beguiled”). Leah Holzer of Big Beach will executive produce, along with Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster. The project originated from a true story developed by Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster, first appearing on the Black List in 2013.