While promoting the Elvis Presley biopic, Tom Hanks discussed his role in the Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia. Hanks received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a corporate attorney who conceals his homosexuality and is fired over his AIDS diagnosis. The movie was released in 1993, and the actor told The New York Times Magazine that if the film was being cast today, he would not play the role of Beckett.
Philadelphia was written by Ron Nyswaner, directed by Demme, and starred Hanks and Denzel Washington. Philadelphia is recognized as one of the first Hollywood films to center its plot around the HIV/AIDS epidemic and homophobia. Besides Hanks’ Best Actor Academy Award, Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
“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,” Hanks said.
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Hanks went on to express similar sentiments about Forrest Gump (for which he also won an Oscar), calling both films “timely movies, at the time, that you might not be able to make now.”
Hanks’ comments have proven to be divisive online, with some Twitter users questioning the link between sexual orientation and acting abilities and others mentioning the importance of representation in film.
Hollywood and Representation
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While Hanks was clear about his thoughts regarding straight actors in LGBTQ roles, Hollywood still seems divided on the topic. Bradley Cooper, who was previously in a relationship with Irina Shayk, is currently filming Maestro, a Leonard Bernstein biopic. Bernstein was a renowned composer and conductor best known for scoring West Side Story. Bernstein rose to fame in the 1950s and married a woman (the two were married until 1978) to conceal the fact that he was gay. Publications have shared pictures of a scene where Cooper and co-star Matt Bomer share a kiss.
Cooper is not the only straight actor to recently portray a gay character in film. Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer starred in the critically acclaimed Call Me By Your Name. The film won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song, with Chalamet becoming the third-youngest actor to be nominated for Best Actor.
In 2021, after receiving negative feedback for casting Spaniard actor Javier Bardem as the Cuban Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, film creator Aaron Sorkin made a statement to The Times of London. He defended his choice while comparing it to the thought that only gay actors should play gay characters:
On the other end of the spectrum, Queer as Folk creator Stephen Dunn hired queer writers and LGBTQ actors to play the show’s LGBTQ roles for the reimagination of the series. Billy Eichner’s Bros will debut with all LGBTQ cast members (including those playing straight roles) this September.
“You can act being attracted to someone, but can’t act gay or straight. So this notion that only gay actors should play gay characters? That only a Cuban actor should play Desi? Honestly, I think it’s the mother of all empty gestures and a bad idea,” Sorkin said.
