Tom Hanks says no straight actor would do a gay ‘Philadelphia’ role in modern times
Tom Hanks(left) Tom Hanks in a still from 'Philadelphia' (right)
Veteran star Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for best actor for essaying the role of a gay man with HIV in Jonathan Demme’s 1993 legal drama ‘Philadelphia’. 30 years apart, the actor now feels nostraight actor would no longer be able to play the openly gay character today. In an interview with The New York Times, Hanks opened up about straight performers playing LGBTQ characters, Variety reported.
He said, "Let’s address ‘could a straight man do what I did in ‘Philadelphia’ now?’ No, and rightly so. The whole point of ‘Philadelphia’ was don’t be afraid. One of the reasons people weren’t afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man. We’re beyond that now, and I don’t think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy."
"It's not a crime, it's not boohoo, that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity. Do I sound like I’m preaching? I don’t mean to," he added.
Hanks won the Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance in ‘Philadelphia’, for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, who is a gay attorney diagnosed with AIDS and also faces discrimination at work. The next year, Hanks took his second Oscar award for playing the role of a disabled man in the 1994 classic ‘Forrest Gump.’
Hanks will next be seen in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’, in which he plays the role of Elvis Presley's managerColonel Tom Parker. ‘Elvis’ will be out in theatres on June 24.
(With agency inputs)
