The Oscar-winning 1993 role Val Kilmer wishes he played: “I just didn’t get hired”

Val Kilmer said he wanted to play Andrew Beckett in *Philadelphia*, the 1993 drama about a lawyer suing his former firm after being dismissed for being gay and having Aids. He was never offered the role, which went to Tom Hanks; the casting helped the film reach mainstream audiences and earned Hanks an Oscar.

The article considers how Kilmer’s more sexually confident gay characters might have changed the film’s portrayal and its lasting appeal. Andy Garcia was first cast but withdrew over scheduling, while Daniel Day-Lewis was also considered. Hanks said in 2022 that a gay actor should play the role today, adding that his own casting may have made the film less daunting to straight audiences at the time.