Today, Tom Hanks is regarded as an actor capable of any role, and it was his dramatic performance in a 1993 movie that earned him this reputation.
- Tom Hanks’ role in Philadelphia opened doors for him as a dramatic actor and proved his versatility beyond romantic comedies.
- Hanks’ powerful performance as a man with AIDS challenged societal norms and sparked conversation around the topics of homosexuality and HIV/AIDS in the 1990s.
- Philadelphia remains one of Hanks’ best movie performances, earning him his first Oscar and making a significant impact in raising awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS.
Tom Hanks has proven that he is up to just about any role, and this started with the $206 million box office hit Philadelphia. Today, it’s difficult to imagine a time in which Hanks’ star power didn’t qualify him for just about any film, but like any other actor in Hollywood, there was a time when he was a complete newcomer. In the early days of Hanks’ career, he was known predominantly for comedies, but his emotional performance in 1993’s Philadelphia threw the doors wide open.
Philadelphia follows the story of Andrew Becket (Hanks), a former associate at a corporate law firm who believes he has been wrongfully terminated after his superiors discovered he had AIDS. Planning to sue his old employers, Becket is turned down by several attorneys until he is eventually accepted as a client by Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). Of course, AIDs was an especially divisive topic in the 1990s, so Hanks’ role in Philadelphia pushed society to engage in a difficult conversation while also educating them on the truths and lies of homosexuality and HIV/AIDS. Ultimately, this meant a turning point in the actor’s career.
