Director Jonathan Demme’s 1993 movie, Philadelphia, is often labeled as one of the most iconic movies of all time as it massively contributed to spreading awareness regarding AIDS in an era where misinformation and stigma prevailed. The film’s stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington were praised for their remarkable performance, which also earned them several awards.

While Washington’s on-screen performance as Joe Miller was amazing, another iconic Hollywood actor was shortlisted to play the character, Robin Williams. Demme initially wanted Williams to star in the movie, but then the role went to Washington.

Denzel Washington replaced Robin Williams in 1993’s Philadelphia

Robin Williams

Director Jonathan Demme wanted actor Robin Williams to play the role of Joe Miller in 1993’s Philadelphia because a comedic actor would’ve been a good counterbalance for Tom Hanks’ character, Andrew Beckett.

So, the director shortlisted Bill Murray and Robin Williams for the role, however, when actor Denzel Washington approached the director for the role, he decided to cast him because he had wanted to work with the actor for the past few years. For the role of Andrew Beckett, actor Michael Keaton was the second choice.

Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks went through drastic physical changes for their roles

Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington

Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington had to go through extreme physical changes in order to star in the film. Hanks had to lose a lot of fat to accurately portray his character during the courtroom scenes.

On the other hand, Denzel Washington was asked to gain a few pounds for his role. It was revealed that Washington often ate chocolate bars in front of Hanks, who was starving himself for the role. In total, Hanks lost 26 pounds for the role. Hanks once said that his casting was a deliberate step to get people to see “the movie about a lawyer with AIDS over the big puppet show.”

Philadelphia was a massive success

Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington in Philadelphia

Jonathan Demme once revealed that he was inspired to create this film after a friend of his, illustrator Juan Suárez Botas, was diagnosed with AIDS. The film successfully managed to raise awareness regarding AIDS, also accurately highlighting the struggles faced by individuals with AIDS. The movie was nominated for several prestigious awards and Hanks even won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his powerful performance as Andrew Beckett in the movie.

The journey of creating this film was not easy as the script went through more than 25 major revisions and the film’s subject matter sparked debates. Financially, the film performed fairly well, earning roughly $206 million worldwide, becoming the 9th highest-grossing film of 1993.