The moment was even captured on video at a recent screening of the movie, which was attended by Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. On the carpet, the two were approached by an Access Hollywood reporter who informed them of the family relation to Rogers, which was evidently uncovered by the family genealogy website Ancestry.com.
According to Ancestry,
Tom Hanks and Rogers share a common relative in a man named Johannes Meffert, who was born in 1732. The surname spelling was then changed to Mefford when the bloodline split, with one family tree eventually leading to Hanks while the other led to Rogers. This would mean that Tom Hanks and
Fred Rogers are actually sixth cousins, a fact which had been lost to time over the course of several generations. While the connection is certainly very interesting when considering Hanks is playing Rogers in an all-new movie, it's ultimately not particularly shocking, as both Hanks and Rogers are also very well-known as two of the most wholesome celebrities in history.
Initially, Wilson had trouble buying the report, suggesting the reporter was pulling their leg about the apparent relation. Of course, that quickly changed when presented with the Ancestry information, leaving her pleasantly surprised.