Where to watch Philadelphia (1993)

Trivia & production notes

• Screenwriter Ron Nyswaner was inspired to work on the project after his nephew Kevin was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; Kevin died from complications of the virus in June 1992 at age 21.
• Tom Hanks lost 35 pounds during filming by working with two personal trainers to authentically show his character's physical deterioration throughout the movie.
• The film was shot in chronological order so that Hanks could gradually lose weight as the story progressed and to help him follow a clear emotional trajectory.
• Director Jonathan Demme refused to recast openly HIV-positive actor Ron Vawter after TriStar Pictures initially declined to insure him, and even adjusted the shooting schedule when Vawter was hospitalized.
• Of approximately 53 AIDS-positive actors who appeared in Philadelphia, 43 of them died within a year of the film's release, including Ron Vawter who died less than five months after the premiere.
• John Leguizamo turned down the role of Miguel Álvarez in order to play Luigi in the Super Mario Bros. film instead.
• The project went through multiple title changes before settling on Philadelphia, having previously been called Probable Cause and People Like Us.
• Scenes showing physical affection between Hanks and Antonio Banderas were removed from the theatrical release, though one depicting them in bed together was restored in the DVD edition.
• The Los Angeles premiere on December 14, 1993, was held as a benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles and raised $250,000 for the organization.
• Philadelphia was the first major Hollywood studio film with major stars to address AIDS in the United States, following the television film And the Band Played On.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Philadelphia (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.