Philadelphia (1993): 21 Hidden Details That Change Everything

The story of Philadelphia (1993), Jonathan Demme's courtroom drama starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, the first major studio film to confront the AIDS crisis directly. The video covers the real case behind Andrew Beckett, the firing of attorney Geoffrey Bowers and the lawsuit his family later brought against the filmmakers; why Michael Keaton turned the lead role down and why Tom Hanks was cast precisely because audiences trusted him; the chronological shoot during which Hanks lost roughly 26 pounds while Denzel Washington was asked to gain weight; the studio's attempt to remove HIV-positive actor Ron Vawter and how Demme kept him in the film; the intimate scenes cut from the theatrical release; the extras who were living with AIDS themselves; Mary Steenburgen's improvised courtroom line; the opera scene widely credited with sealing Hanks' Oscar; the Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen songs that ended up competing at the Academy Awards; and the box office run nobody predicted.