* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/TomHanks was originally offered the role of Joe Miller, but he was more interested in playing Andrew Beckett.
* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/TomHanks had to starve himself during the film's entire production to appear as though he were wasting away from AIDS. Inversely, Creator/DenzelWashington was encouraged to ''gain'' weight to give the impression of someone who lived much more comfortably.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Several scenes depicting a more intimate relationship between Andrew and Miguel were chopped out by the studio. They also attempted to block the casting of the HIV-positive Ron Vawter[[note]] as, ironically, one of the partners who let Andy go[[/note]], until director Jonathan Demme pointed out how hypocritical this would be in the face of the film's message.
* PlayingAgainstType: This led to TomHanksSyndrome.
* RealitySubtext: Prior to this film, Creator/JonathanDemme had faced a massive backlash for ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs'' from the gay community, who felt that the Buffalo Bill's villainous characterization was rooted heavily in GayPanic (feminine voice, a poodle named Precious, cross dressing, etc). Demme's follow up was a film which not only normalized homosexual people, but brought attention to one of their most infamous issues, though he claimed that he was planning on making it long before the ''Lambs'' controversy.
* RealLifeRelative: Robert W. Castle, Creator/JonathanDemme's cousin (and subject of Demme's documentary ''Cousin Bobby''), plays Andrew's father.
* ThrowItIn: The moment when Belinda says that she hates the case was improvised in the moment, when Creator/MarySteenburgen expressed her hate towards her role after shooting the mirror scene and Creator/JonathanDemme encouraged her to incorporate it into the role, so the woman would seem more human.
* TomHanksSyndrome: The TropeMaker. Prior to ''Philadelphia'', Creator/TomHanks had only appeared in two dramatic films, ''Film/NothingInCommon'' and ''Film/EveryTimeWeSayGoodbye'', neither of which were commercially or critically successful, so Hanks returned to doing comedic films. After this film, Hanks made the ''permanent'' transition from comedies to dramas.[[note]]Parodied in [[Recap/FamilyGuyS1E1DeathHasAShadow the first episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' (recycling a gag from Creator/SethMacFarlane's student film, "The Life of Larry") where the Griffen family goes to see this film and Peter recognizes Hanks as "the guy from ''Film/{{Big}}''," laughing uncontrollably at the line "I have AIDS".[[/note]]
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/DanielDayLewis was Creator/JonathanDemme's first choice to play Andrew Beckett. He turned it down in favor of ''Film/InTheNameOfTheFather''. Creator/WilliamBaldwin, Creator/AndyGarcia, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/MatthewModine and Creator/TimRobbins were also offered the role.
** Originally, Demme was going to cast a comedic actor in role of Joe Miller as he felt it would be a good counter balance for Creator/TomHanks who had already been cast and to give an audience the "it's OK" to watch a film about a gay man dying of AIDS. Demme had considered casting either Creator/BillMurray or Creator/RobinWilliams but when Creator/DenzelWashington showed interest in the part, he gave the role to him instead because Demme had wanted to work with Washington for the past few years.
** Joe Miller was originally written as an Italian-American character named Joe Martino. There were also talks of making him a woman, with Creator/JodieFoster being the ideal choice. Creator/MelGibson was also considered for the part.
** Creator/JohnLeguizamo turned down the part of Miguel in favor of ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993''.
** Creator/JamesWoods was considered for Charles Wheeler.
* WorkingTitle: ''People Like Us'', ''At Risk'' and ''Probable Cause''.
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