Junod had a file. I think he did the scales every day., If Mister Rogers were alive today to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Junod is pretty sure that he would enjoy the film. That light just burned out and there was I mean, that was on fire. Tom Junod, whose magazine article inspired the film, on the set of 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.'. In your eyes, whats the reason for the lack of action? To Vogels surprise, Rogers decides not to retape, saying that children need to see that when adults make plans, sometimes they dont work.. [Junod gets up, alerts others to the now-smoking lightbulb, and returns with potato chips to share.]. ", For the most part, no. Tom Junod does credit Fred Rogers with giving his wife Janet and him the courage to adopt their daughter. Here's the True Story Behind A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Read Tom Junod's Iconic Mr. Rogers Profile. As the film points out, it's not hard to imagine that having Mister Rogers as your father could be both a blessing and a burden. 2023 That's because over the course of married life, people supply their spouses with precisely what's required to finish them off. When he met Mr. Rogers, he was married, but had no children. Junod and Rogers exchanged dozens of emails that would . Last year, the documentary Wont You Be My Neighbor? [11], "Bringing Out the Worst In Celebrity Coverage? Can I fight with her and still love her for the rest of my life? Junod says he had no idea how to write about a person like Fred after a run of writing successful stories about darker subjects. Ive had people say, I know a lot of people who are really kind, but theyre just not media people, so no one knows about their kindness. I mean, the point is that Fred was a media person, and he did have a platform, and he spoke to an extremely large audience that he made into an even larger audience. But do you think there will be one? The hard-hitting journalist reluctantly takes an assignment to write a profile story about the cherished TV icon for a special 1998 "Heroes" issue of Esquire. It was the first time I had read the story in a really long time. He was the host and creator of the preschool television series Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [7], Junod is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors; one for a profile of John Britton, an abortion doctor,[9] and one for a profile of a rapist undergoing therapy while enduring what is known as "civil commitment" finalist for the award. He is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors. Tom stands at a height of 5 ft 7 in (Approx 1.74 m). You always felt superior to them the kind of people who had a fender-bender and thought they were in a wreck. Sex is such a big part of your strife that sometimes you wonder if you're one of those couples who fight in order to have sex who stage volcanic battles in order to stage equally volcanic reconciliations. The Slate Group LLC. Tom Junod, whose magazine article inspired the film, on the set of 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.' Lacey TerrellSony Pictures Before he was assigned to interview Rogers for an Esquire. He is hitched to his amazing wife Janet Junod. Photos by TriStar Pictures and WPBS-TV. During a youth baseball game on June 1, 2018, a car driven by Carol Sharrow careened onto the field nearly missing players and umpires while family and friends watched in . He was a kind man who made it a point to practice kindness to a vast audience, person by person. While the movie's story offers an example of Fred Rogers' impact on people, we arguably don't get to know him any better than we already did.By creating a story arc around the movie's largely fictional journalist, Lloyd Vogel, there's no time for an actual story arc about Fred Rogers. He has served as a professional writer for over two decades and through his sucess and hard work he has gathered a decent fortune. How Mister Rogers changed the life of Atlanta writer Tom Junod, Block by Block: Stories from the streets that connect us, 2020 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Designer Showhouse, DINES: A Taste of the Citys Best Restaurants, Q&A: New editor-in-chief Leroy Chapman shares his vision for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Journalism is struggling. It was late in the day, and the train was crowded with children who were going home from school. I was well aware of his eccentricity, but unlike my character in the script, I had never rejected him or his message., And while, according to Junod, he was indeed assigned to cover Rogers as a sort of mismatch between subject and reporter, it doesnt look like it was to brighten his reputation.Instead, he was assigned the story about Fred because one of the editors at Esquire thought it would be amusing to have me, with my stated determination to say the unsayable, write about the nicest man in the world. Still, like Vogel, Junod did have a reputation for being hard on subjects after he wrote an Esquire cover story dancing around the subject of Kevin Spaceys sexuality, a story of coy ill will that fooled no one.. Mister Rogers spots him first, naturally, amidst the swarm of New Yorkers, about the five-hundredth happy coincidence in a life full of them. TJ: I mean, I never had that nightmare, but very interesting. [6] Junod has stated that his encounter with Rogers changed his perspective on life. Finally, as in the movie, Rogers really was rumored to have been a Navy SEAL, though as the movie suggests, this was a myth. Tom Junod (born April 9, 1958) is an American journalist. Your children understand that there are no trivial fights, because each fight has the potential to grow into the kind of fight that ends your marriage. They are arguments that enter a dimension different from the one in which they started. ESQ: Now its landed at a point where I pray for my family, pray for anyone who needs it. He pursued a bachelor's degree in English graduating in 1980. I think Tom plays Fred as a person to be reckoned with, and I think Fred was a person to be reckoned with.. feels right for our less-than-neighborly times", "The Missouri Association of Publications 5th Anniversary Publishing Summit Will Be Held March 5 and 6 in Columbia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Junod&oldid=1119579430, This page was last edited on 2 November 2022, at 09:19. . ESQ: And then by Mister Rogers. Thats the image featured in the ads and trailers for the upcoming holiday release, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. But how do you do that? The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star, 53, and . You don't want to, but you do. I n early 1998, Tom Junod received an assignment that was outside his wheelhouse. I think that that was a lesson that stood me in good stead for the rest of my time as a journalist, says Junod. In 1985 he and his first wife . He made himself into a superhero with his utility belt and all his training, Junod says. He was born to his caring father and mother in 1958 in Wantagh, New York, in the United States. Ive gone on the road through this story and Ive become a spokesman not just for the movie, but for Fred, and its one of the great surprises of my life. : Directed by Morgan Neville. Group, a Graham Holdings Company. TJ: Yeah, they have been. But he lived a life of prayer, and he wanted us he wanted me to pray.. But, in that same way, do you think he could have became what he did with social media instead of TV? The protagonist attempts to interview Rogers on the set of the TV show in Pittsburgh and in his modest pied-a-terre in New York, but Rogers always manages to turn the interview around on Vogel. I do think that if you transported Fred through time from then til now, would he try? Perhaps it's because I grew up in Pittsburgh, where Fred Rogers lived and his show was created, but no one I know has ever questioned his sincerity. During a 1987 interview with Rick Sebak, Fred said that he gave up fish in the 1980s after hearing someone's reply when he said, "I heard that fish was very good for you." Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is a heavily fictionalized and re-named version of journalist Tom Junod. He was not a dogmatic person, but he was dogmatic about thatthat media should not be used as a distraction. They might not still be fucking. And I wasnt entirely convinced that he was an American hero, says Junod. Are you happily married? Tom Junod is an American journalist. A fight to the finish is what finishes a marriage. You have reached your limit of free articles. Well, you don't go to sleep angry, as the old saying goes. Dive deeper into the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood true story by watching Fred Rogers testify before Congress in the video below, as he attempts to secure $20 million in federal funding for PBS. Junod wasnt surprised to learn that his friend had kept meticulous notes on their correspondence. He wanted us to pray. ESQ: You wrote in the original piece that he didnt even watch TV. While we represen, Major spoilers ahead. But the kind of fight that doesn't end is this: the kind of fight you win. The thing that damaged me about the Kevin Spacey story was not that we revealed that Kevin was gayit was that we revealed Kevin was gay for a purpose that was not worth the revelation, Junod says. And what did Fred want from me? On a personal front, Junod says Rogers has made him and his wife, Janet, better parents to their 16-year-old daughter, Nia, whom they adopted in 2004. By the time Junod was done writing the story, he had become friends with Rogers.The two remained close until Rogers's death, in early 2003. The new Mr. Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, directed by Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) "I did not get into a fistfight with my father at my sister's wedding," said Tom Junod, the real-life journalist who loosely inspired Matthew Rhys character. But what do you fight for, if you can't fight to win? After all, Rogers woke up daily at 5 a.m. to pray and read and swim; he famously even ensured that he weight the same exact amount143 poundswithout fluctuation. He is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors. And you don't fight drunk, because not only will you then say what can't be unsaid; you will find out what it is. When you were contemplating asking your wife to marry you, you asked yourself the same question that most men in your position ask themselves: Can I have sex with this woman, and only this woman, for the rest of my life? And that always struck me as perverse. "Fred's faith in God was unshakable," says journalist Tom Junod, "and so was his faith in goodness itself." In the movie, we see Rogers (Tom Hanks) confess that he has a strained relationship with one of his two sons. While it seems like a nice movie moment that's hard to believe happened in real life, it actually comes straight from Tom Junod's article. He pursued a bachelors degree in English graduating in 1980. So when he was first assigned this profile, Junod wasnt sure how to proceed. ESQ: So my relationship with prayer has ebbed and flowed my entire life. They are, in other words, what sex should be, what you want it to be, because they're so dangerous. . While he still doesnt know whether Rogers had read the Spacey article, Junod believes Rogers recognized that he was going through a moment of transformation after losing trust in himself. .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}Pedro Pascal Is Joining 'Gladiator 2', The Best, Craziest, Weirdest Moments From Cannes, Celebrities Who've Shaved Their Heads for Roles, 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Is Finally Streaming, 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' Sticks the Landing, Damon Lindelof Was 'Asked to Leave' Star Wars, Christopher Nolan Is Hyping Up 'Oppenheimer', Pedro Pascal, Ethan Hawke Are a Great Cowboy Match, Seeing Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa Will Break Me, 'The Flash' Just Debuted Another Massive Trailer. TJ: Yes. And, as it turned out, I had no distance at all. The 28-year-old last posted in August . The movie introduces us to the journalist in 1998, the year after he won the National Magazine Award. Do you love your wife? The movie, which opens November 22, casts Rogers as an agent of change in the life of a cynical journalist played by Matthew Rhys, just as Rogers was a catalyst in the real life of Junod, who is now at ESPN The Magazine, with previous stints at Esquire, GQ, and Atlanta magazine. No. I mean, to be honest with you, Ive been going and going in front of a crowd [suddenly, a lightbulb in Junods eyeview explodes in flames] Woah! (Which, in journalism these days, is quite long. Junod, who had just turned 40, was at a low point when an editor assigned him the story for a November issue celebrating heroes. At first, I chalked this up to some Neighborhood of Make-Believe voodoo energy, but now I have a legit answer. Junod also appeared in the critically acclaimed documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? A fact check reveals this to be accurate. The question is who can abstain from winning, who can resist the temptation of winning, which. An embittered, self-absorbed, antisocial Esquire journalist who holds a grudge towards his philanderous father Jerry for abandoning his family, Lloyd is assigned to profile children's television host Fred Rogers for a magazine issue about . He was born on April 9, 1958, in Wantagh, New York, in the United States of America. They sang, all at once, all together, the song he sings at the start of his program, Wont You Be My Neighbor? and turned the clattering train into a single soft, runaway choir. Simple: You fight about what you always fight about. TJ: I grew up Roman Catholic too. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 62 years old? After I watched the walkthroughand was somehow briefly enlisted in fashion-show-planning service as the only idle body in sightwe sat down on a couch in the middle of all the swirling fashion-show-planners, and talked about Fred Rogers, what he left behind, and what we do now. Before he was assigned to interview Rogers for an Esquire issue about American heroes, Junod had earned a bit of an unsavory reputation. I have actually tried, since that moment, Ive tried to pray. You are fighting as a way of voicing your objections to the person you have chosen to live your life with but if your marriage is healthy, the fight will end in surrender rather than loss. like any other marital temptation, is always there. Since 1961, Atlanta magazine, the citys premier general interest publication, has served as the authority on Atlanta, providing its readers with a mix of long-form nonfiction, lively lifestyle coverage, in-depth service journalism, and literary essays, columns, and profiles. And heres this extremely soft-spoken man calling upon you to be a child again, and thats exactly what you dont want to hear, he said. Still, the journalist didnt know what to make of the TV host. They are parents to Antonia Li Junod. [10], In 2011, Junod won the James Beard Award for his essay "My Mom Couldn't Cook", published in Esquire in September 2010. The film comes to theatres across North America November 22. Then view a trailer for the Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? All contents While Junod says that Fred Rogers did see something in him that he didn't see in himself (namely that he was a good person), he wasn't the cynical journalist consumed by anger who Matthew Rhys portrays onscreen. This idea was revived, the idea of Fred, and that has been one of the great rewards of participating on this movie.. I grew up Roman Catholic. Write to Rachel E. Greenspan at rachel.greenspan@time.com. Meaning that there should be mistakes, there should be accidents, and if that was filmed, then it should stay filmed. This was a deeply disciplined man. He attributes the success of The Falling Manan elegiac Esquire piece about 9/11 and arguably Junods best-known workto Rogers. You fight because of things she does that you don't like, and things you do that she doesn't like. Im at my best as a father when I try to think what Fred Rogers would do, and Im probably at my worst when I think what my own father would do.. When he saw the movie for the first time, in a screening room in New York City over the summer, he asked himself: What would Mister Rogers think of my work? ESPN senior writer Tom Junod has written some of the most enduring and widely read longform journalism of the last 30 years. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. You wonder now if the question that you should have asked yourself is: Can I fight with this woman for the rest of my life? Yeah, he would. I mean, Fred wasnt just a reformer when it comes in terms of message. Fred Rogers isnt even the central figure. This is the story of how Rogers, who died in 2003, changed Junods life forever. What do you fight about? Tom Hanks' mannerisms seem very accurate as well, including his slow way of speaking and use of silence, considering each word carefully and giving his audience time to ponder them. This is all somewhat accurate, though no woman was editor in chief of Esquire in the 90s, and its staff was not as diverse as it is in the movie. Here is how you know that the fight is finally over: You have sex. Here is how you know you and your wife are going to have a fight: You haven't had sex. "Thank you for calling, my dear," he said, in a voice whose . Thats about where the similarities end. I mean, one of the great surprises of my life is doing this. On a personal front, Junod says Rogers has made him and his wife, Janet, better parents to their 16-year-old daughter, Nia, whom they adopted in 2004. For Junod, theres always been a bit of a misconception about Rogers. It wasnt just a profile that was dusted off, he said about his articles second life. I dont know if Im ever going to be as good at the active devotion whereas Fred would like me or us to be. An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers. The Real-Life Lloyd Vogel: Tom Junod is the real-life reporter on whom the character of Lloyd Vogel is based. You are fighting about something but if your marriage is healthy, you are fighting to find out what's worth fighting for and you will find out that what you are fighting for is the marriage itself. For example, at one point Matthew Rhys' character tells Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), "You love people like me," to which Hanks as Rogers responds, "What are people like you?" And hes still going even, Junod is currently a senior writer at ESPN, where hes written about his, When he met Mr. Rogers, he was married, but had no children. [8], Among his controversial articles, Junod came to regret the tone of his 1997 profile of Kevin Spacey for Esquire that "more or less outed the actor". He clearly believed in prayer as a way of life. The writer has no idea whether these were meant as pieces of advice, lessons or notes Rogers perhaps learned from Junod himself. ", Yes. The real journalist, Tom Junod, says that his father, Lou Junod, was in fact an eccentric, boozy philanderer, but he "had never rejected him or his message." He clearly wanted me to pray. TJ: I think the mediums themselves sort of make us prejudiced against that. Aside from a fictional subplot involving the writers father, the films narrative hews to the Esquire story. Yes, Jonathan Briley might be the Falling Man. Portraying Mister Rogers, a jaunty Tom Hanks tosses a loafer in the air while changing shoes on the set of the eponymous childrens show. It was a complete mystery to me, how he could be who he was, how he could stay who he was, Junod says, that it wasnt a pose, it wasnt an act.. The spirit of Mister Rogers counseled her to forgive the insults, and after she told me her story in the morning, I called Fred. -The Atlantic I dont like it. Not that it's messy, or that the accumulated water glasses and coffee cups tend to . Playing Andrea Vogel, (but really Janet Junod, Tom Junod's wife), is This Is Us breakout star Susan Kelechi Watson. I was okay with Lloyd Vogel with bunny ears. This is one Mr. Rogers story you dont have to take on my authority, or Junods, because you can watch it yourself. Yes, at least much more accurately than any of the other main characters. It is no surprise that so many fights turn into sex, and inevitable that the most destructive ones are fought on the level of sex. Working with Mister Rogers wasnt easy for Junod. And, its definitely one of the reasons that changing the name to Lloyd Vogel worked, because I think that things sort of drift towards magical realism at that time. Joanne Rogers, Fred's wife, and Bill Isler, former president and CEO of The. A distraction itself was dangerous. As the movie depicts, Bill Isler (played by Enrico Colantoni), whom Junod refers to as Rogers majordomo, ran Rogers production company. They are parents to Antonia Li Junod. Sex matters to a marriage. ESQ: Another interesting thing in your piece is how you talk about how theres still a hunger for spreading goodness in the world. In fact, Rogers helped give them the. For years, we have been the top moviegoers even though the films we watch rarely reflect our communities. SANFORD, Maine Award-winning journalist Tom Junod spent two years investigating the hit and run at Goodall Park in Sanford that killed 68-year-old Douglas Parkhurst. They exchanged no fewer than 70 emails during the first year of their friendship alone. Hell, it's the element of sex that lets you know that you're fighting and not simply arguing. Mr Rogers is an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. Lloyd Vogel (based loosely on the real life journalist Tom Junod) is the anti-heroic protagonist of the 2019 drama film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I was really struggling with that. Fights are not just arguments that don't end. Of course you are. We swung up to the fashion show venue, where I watched Junod practice his strut to untz-untz-untz beats and avoid a janky step at the start of the runway. As such, Tom Junod's observations from his interview with Fred Rogers are the fuel for Marielle Heller's drama about learning the very lessons that "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" taught children and adults in the show's 33-year history. He helped a blind child who was struggling to pray, and he loved taking pictures of everyone he met to show to his wife, Joanne. Tom Hanks stars as Mister Rogers in 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Thats where I was when I first met Fred.. He receives a satisfying salary working as a Senior Writer at ESPN. With the film adaptation of Junod's legendary Esquire story out today, we talked to the writer about the man who changed his life. He is the son of Lou Junod, who was an eccentric, boozy philanderer. Rogers became a vegetarian in the 1970s, even taking a co-ownership in and appearing on the cover of the Vegetarian Times. And I just think that its a trap; I think its false. He joined ESPN in 2016 and has specialized in deeply reported stories on subjects ranging from Muhammad Ali's funeral to Tom Brady's desire to play forever. Just as in the movie, he did often say he wouldnt eat anything that had a mother, though it doesnt seem like he ever used that line with Junod. I have read his old emails, and I can see that he was very clear about what he wanted from me and everybody else. This content is imported from youTube. TJ: You can get into all sorts of weird head-trips about prayer and its purpose. Marquee narrative writer Tom Junod delivers a Stephen King-esque mystery with "The Hero of Goodall Park," and rejects one-size-fits-all detachment.
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