Philadelphia still stands as one of the oldest as well as one of the most famous movies in which Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks have starred together. A trial drama encompassing real-life incidents and problems faced by people during the 1980s following the start of the AIDS epidemic, the 1993 movie turned out to become a blockbuster, widely loved and acclaimed by people from all around the world.
Yet as easy as it is to watch a movie and appraise or criticize it, it is equally difficult for the actors to perform in it to give their utter best. But both Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington proved that they could do it, despite their eeny-miny teasing of each other on the sets of the movie.
Denzel Washington Left No Stone Unturned Teasing Tom Hanks On The Sets Of Philadelphia
One of the best movies of the 20th century, Philadelphia starred Tom Hanks as Andrew Buckett, an AIDS-affected lawyer who gets sacked from his law firm after they discover his disease. Denzel Washington, on the other hand, starred as Joe Miller, another lawyer yet a homophobic one, who is forced into ignoring his own stereotypes while taking on Hanks’ character’s case.
For his role, Hanks had to lose weight, and Washington made sure to take advantage of every ounce of it. Sharing how mean he was to his co-star on the sets of the movie appearing in The Graham Norton Show, the Equalizer star said,
“It was extreme. I mean, he [Tom Hanks] was eating only, like, 800 calories a day and he went way down. So [what] we would do was- He was really really skinny in the scenes in the courtroom. So I would leave candy bars and you know. I would, like, sneeze in 500 Almond Joys… you know. I was having pizzas delivered to him.”
On the other hand, the 68-year-old legendary star faced no problem gaining weight for his role in the movie.
“I can put on weight real easy. In fact, for the movie basically, what I did was I would eat. Eat later, eat at midnight,” Washington said. “You know, have a big meal at midnight. Yeah, oh, delicious. I loved it.”
But while the Equalizer star had his fair share of teasing his Philadelphia co-star, Tom Hanks too made sure to get back at him. And boy, did he do that.
How Tom Hanks Got His Revenge On Denzel Washington
After the film was shot and released on the big screens, it wasn’t too late before Philadelphia started getting awe-struck reviews. Becoming one of the best movies of all time, especially among the ones based on the AIDS pandemic, which was raging on at the time, it also granted Tom Hanks an Oscar for Best Actor for his remarkable performance in the movie!
Years later, recalling how the Forrest Gump star got his revenge on him, Denzel Washington said,
“He [Tom Hanks] thanked me when he won the Oscars.”
Regardless of the movie’s performance, Hanks did get Washington fine this time!
You can watch Philadelphia on Amazon Prime.
Source: YouTube
