Tom Hanks Says Modern Audiences Wouldn’t Accept ‘Inauthenticity’ of His ‘Philadelphia’ Turn as a Gay Lawyer: ‘Rightfully So’

Actor won an Oscar for the role

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Tom Hanks doesn’t think modern audiences would accept accept his Oscar-winning performance as a gay lawyer battling AIDS in 1993’s “Philadelphia.”

“Could a straight man do what I did in ‘Philadelphia’ now? No, and rightly so,” he said in an interview with The New York Times Magazine published Wednesday. “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.”

He continued, “We’re beyond that now, and I don’t think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy.

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