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Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for his role in the 1993 film Philadelphia, in which he played a gay lawyer with AIDS. Speaking with The New York Times Magazine recently, the Forrest Gump actor commented on how the times have changed since then.
"Let's address 'could a straight man do what I did in 'Philadelphia' now?'” Hanks said. “No, and rightly so.”
The Cast Away actor continued, “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 shared that he thinks that this is a good thing. "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."
"You wouldn't cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn't black someone up. Authenticity is leading us to joyous places," he added.