Notable cameos in the film include Rogers' wife Joanne, Mr. McFeely actor David Newell, Family Communications head Bill Isler, and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" producer Margy Whitmer who appear as customers in a restaurant that Rogers and Lloyd meet in. Arsenio Hall and Oprah Winfrey make uncredited appearances in archive footage of talk shows that Lloyd watches in the film, and Fred Rogers appears in archive footage of his show during the ending credits, singing the song "You've Got to Do It". On January 29, 2018, it was announced that Sony's TriStar Pictures had bought the worldwide distribution rights to the film "You Are My Friend", a biographical film based on a 1998 "Esquire" magazine article about television personality Fred Rogers, who would be played by Tom Hanks. The film's script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster appeared among the 2013 Black List of best unproduced screenplays and it would be directed by Marielle Heller, while producers would be Big Beach's Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf along with Youree Henley. In July 2018, Matthew Rhys joined the cast of the film to play the journalist Lloyd Vogel, with production set to start in September 2018. Being Welsh, Rhys had never even heard of Fred Rogers before being offered the role. In August 2018, Chris Cooper was added to the cast to play Vogel's father, and in September, Susan Kelechi Watson was added. In October 2018, Enrico Colantoni, Maryann Plunkett, Tammy Blanchard, Wendy Makkena, Sakina Jaffrey, Carmen Cusack, Harpster and Maddie Corman joined the cast of the film. In 2018, Nate Heller was chosen to score the film. Principal photography on the film began on September 10, 2018 in Pittsburgh, with several sets converted into New York City. Filming also took place in Fred Rogers Studio at WQED (TV) where the late television host recorded "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", and the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The crew consulted with original crew members from Rogers' television series and also brought in the same broadcast cameras and monitors used in the original production. The film received tax credits of approximately $9.5 million against a production budget of $45 million for filming in Pittsburgh. Production wrapped on November 9, 2018. On October 12, 2018, sound mixer James Emswiller had a heart attack and fell from a second-story balcony.