Who Played Me in "Philadelphia"? Quiz

Answer: Tom Hanks

Hanks, born on July 9th, 1956 in Concord, California, was cast as Andrew Beckett. Andrew was a successful attorney at a major law firm in Philadelphia and he was assigned to work on a major case. One day, someone from the firm called Andrew while he was at the hospital and told him he needed to file a document concerning this major case. Andrew realized the document had to be filed within approximately an hour and a half, especially as there was a statute of limitations issue with the case.

In the end, the document got filed on time but Andrew was dismissed from the law firm. Andrew felt he was terminated after the partners discovered that he had AIDS.

He sued the law firm and ended up winning his case. In Andrew's final scene, he succumbed to complications from AIDS and died in his hospital bed. Hanks starred in the films "Big", "A League of Their Own" and "The Green Mile".

In 1994, Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett in "Philadelphia". Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor that year were Anthony Hopkins for "The Remains of the Day", Daniel Day-Lewis for "In the Name of the Father", Liam Neeson for "Schindler's List" and Laurence Fishburne for "What's Love Got To Do With It".

Answer: Joanne Woodward

Woodward, a native of Thomasville, Georgia, got the part of Sarah Beckett. Sarah was Andrew's mother and she was seen talking with Andrew about the lawsuit he filed against his former employer. During this talk, she stated that she did not raise her kids to sit in the back of the bus and Andrew needed to fight for his rights.

In a later scene, Sarah was saddened when Andrew collapsed while in court. Sarah was seen at the hospital in the final scenes right before Andrew passed away. Woodward had roles in the movies "Rachel, Rachel", "A Kiss Before Dying" and "Signpost to Murder".

In 1958, she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in "The Three Faces of Eve". Other Oscar nominees for Best Actress that year were Anna Magnani for "Wild is the Wind", Elizabeth Taylor for "Raintree County", Deborah Kerr for "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" and Lana Turner for "Peyton Place".

Answer: Denzel Washington

Washington, born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York, portrayed Joe Miller. Joe worked as a personal injury attorney in Philadelphia and he and Joe were opposing counsel on a particular matter. Later on in the film, Andrew visited Joe to tell him about his being terminated from his law firm and he wanted Joe to represent him. Joe initially said he felt that Andrew did not have a case but later on in the film he decided to be Andrew's attorney in his lawsuit against his law firm.

In one scene, Joe spoke to a reporter and said that Philadelphia was the birthplace of freedom and that the Declaration of Independence did not say that only straight men were created equal but that all men were created equal.

In a pivotal court scene, Joe had Andrew show the court several lesions that were on his body and Andrew told Joe as well as the court that these lesions looked like the lesions that were on his body at the time he was fired. Joe was seen attending a get together at the end of the film after Andrew died. Washington had parts in the films "Virtuosity", "Cry Freedom" and "Malcolm X".

In 2000, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film "The Hurricane", but lost to Kevin Spacey for "American Beauty". Other Academy Award nominees for Best Actor that year were Russell Crowe for "The Insider", Richard Farnsworth for "The Straight Story" and Sean Penn for "Sweet and Lowdown".

Answer: Lisa Summerour

Summerour landed the role of Lisa Miller. Lisa was married to Joe and she was seen early on giving birth to their daughter, Clarice. In one scene, Lisa mentioned to Joe that he had a problem with gay people and then brought up that she knew lots of gay people, such as her aunt and a few co-workers. Midway through the film, Lisa and Joe attended a party hosted by Andrew Beckett.

In Lisa's final scene, she was at a get together that celebrated Andrew's life since Andrew had just died from AIDS complications. Summerour played characters in the movies "Junior", "Mercury Rising" and "The Sixth Sense".

Answer: Andre B. Blake

Blake had the small part of the guy in the pharmacy. The young man saw Joe in the pharmacy midway through the film and complimented him on how well he was doing in the case with Andrew Beckett. The guy told Joe that he was a law student at the University of Pennsylvania. Joe got upset with the guy when he tried to hit on Joe in the pharmacy. Joe called the guy a few choice names before exiting the pharmacy. Blake was cast in the films "Spider-Man 3", "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "Loving Jezebel".

Answer: Anna Deavere Smith

Smith, born on September 18th, 1950 in Baltimore, Maryland, portrayed Anthea Burton. Anthea worked with Andrew Beckett as a paralegal and, in her first scene, Andrew told her that he wanted Anthea to look over some briefs. Anthea informed Joe that she recently did great on a test that she took. Anthea testified in court and mentioned that she felt she was discriminated against at the law firm where Andrew was fired.

She stated that Charles Wheeler's secretary, Lydia, told her that Charles had a problem with her earrings since they were too ethnic looking. On cross-examination, the attorney representing the firm pointed out that Anthea had just been promoted to lead the paralegal department and that therefore the law firm was not discriminatory, considering that Anthea was an African American woman. Anthea mentioned that she thought the attorney was oversimplifying her promotion. Smith starred in the movies "The American President", "Rachel Getting Married" and "Dave".

Answer: Antonio Banderas

Banderas, a native of Malaga, Andalucia, Spain, portrayed Miguel Alvarez. Miguel was Andrew's boyfriend and he was seen racing towards the hospital since Andrew was not feeling well. At the hospital, Miguel got testy with the physician who was treating Andrew since he claimed that he could not visit Andrew at that time since he was not a member of his immediate family. Miguel was seen in many court scenes supporting Andrew's lawsuit against the law firm.

At the party midway through the film, Miguel was dressed as a sailor. Banderas was seen in the films "The Mask of Zorro", "Desperado" and "Miami Rhapsody".

Answer: Mary Steenburgen

Steenburgen, a native of Newport, Arkansas, landed the part of Belinda Conine. Belinda was one of the attorneys who represented the law firm that Andrew Beckett sued. In her opening statement, Belinda Conine said that Andrew Beckett's job performance at the firm fluctuated but he often performed in a mediocre fashion.

She also said in her opening remarks that the partners at the law firm which terminated Andrew did not know he had AIDS at the time they fired him. In one scene, Belinda objected to Joe Miller aggressively questioning a witness. Later on in the film, Belinda asked Andrew some questions about his contracting AIDS when Andrew visited a porn theater in the mid-1980s.

In her final scene, Belinda congratulated Joe on winning the lawsuit and told him that she would see him at the appeal. Steenburgen starred in the movies "Romantic Comedy", "Time After Time" and "Ragtime".

Answer: Jason Robards

Robards, born in 1922 in Chicago, Illinois, portrayed Charles Wheeler. Charles was a major partner at the law firm where Andrew worked. He and the other partners summoned Andrew into the conference room in one scene for a meeting to discuss Andrew nearly missing a crucial deadline on a major case. Charles told Andrew that he did not think it would be fair to keep Andrew at the law firm when his prospects were limited.

While at a 76ers game, Joe Miller served Charles with a summons and told Charles that he would see him in court.

When Charles testified in court, he mentioned that Andrew showed tremendous promise as a young attorney and that is why the law firm recruited him but that eventually he could no longer ignore Andrew's subpar job performance.

When Joe cross-examined Charles, Charles stated that Andrew wanted to work when he preferred. Robards appeared in the films "Magnolia", "Parenthood" and "Johnny Got His Gun". In 1977, Robards won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the film, "All the President's Men".

Other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actor that year were Burgess Meredith for "Rocky", Laurence Olivier for "Marathon Man", Burt Young for "Rocky" and Ned Beatty for "Network".

Answer: Kathryn Witt

Witt, a native of Miami, Florida, had the small role of Melissa Benedict. Melissa worked as a paralegal at a Washington, D.C. based law firm and, while employed there, worked with Walter Kenton, who was a partner at the firm which fired Andrew Beckett. During her testimony, Melissa mentioned that, after Charles found out that Melissa had AIDS, he would get very uncomfortable whenever he saw her at the office. On cross-examination, Melissa said she got AIDS through a blood transfusion as she lost a lot of blood giving birth to her child. Melissa's last comment on the witness stand was that she did not consider herself any different than anyone else who had AIDS and that she was just trying to survive. Witt starred in the movies "Freebie and the Bean", "Flying High" and "Looker".