Rita, Andie MacDowell’s character in Groundhog Day, has the last name Hanson.
Rita Hanson is the producer assigned to accompany television weatherman Phil Connors to Punxsutawney for the annual Groundhog Day report. She is practical, warm, and enthusiastic about the small-town tradition, contrasting sharply with Phil’s cynical attitude toward the assignment.
The 1993 film stars MacDowell opposite Bill Murray, who plays Phil Connors, a Pittsburgh television meteorologist trapped in a repeating February 2. Rita becomes central to Phil’s moral transformation: at first he tries to manipulate the time loop into winning her affection, but he eventually changes by helping other people and developing genuine compassion.
A common mix-up is confusing Rita Hanson with Phil Connors, the film’s protagonist, or with the fictional groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Hanson is also the character’s surname in the stage musical adaptation.