Twenty-five years ago, HIV/AIDS was a death sentence. And people living with HIV were shunned. It was as if the world didn’t care. Then, against all odds, filmmaker Jonathan Demme and stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington created the first mainstream Hollywood film about HIV/AIDS and homophobia, the first to give the disease a face and reveal the humanity of those who live with it. PEOPLE LIKE US: INSIDE PHILADELPHIA tells the story behind the story - how this remarkable movie got made and how it changed everyone who has ever seen it.
In the 25 years since Philadelphia was released, we've made great progress in the fight against AIDS, but there is still work to do. Join Coca-Cola and (RED) to help end AIDS once and for all. Visit red.org/cocacola to learn more and donate today.
It was the cover of LIFE magazine: “Now no one is safe from AIDS.” Superstar Rock Hudson is already dead and everyone in Hollywood has lost someone to the dreaded disease. Filmmaker Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner want to make a difference the only way they know how: By making a movie. But a movie about a gay corporate lawyer who develops AIDS and is fired because of it? Who will pay to see this? What studio would dare make it? And will any star want to be in it?
The pieces come together as Demme and Nyswaner lose friends and relatives to AIDS. A studio feels a duty to champion PHILADELPHIA, dozens of people living with AIDS participate in key scenes, and two of the biggest stars in the world - Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington - sign on to play risky roles that could break their careers.
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