Tom Hanks says he wouldn't expect to be cast for his role in Philadelphia today despite winning an Oscar for it

Tom Hanks says that he doesn't think he'd be cast in Philadelphia if it were made today.

The film was met with rave reviews from critics, with Hanks singled out for his emotionally raw performance.

But looking back at the role, the 66-year-old says he doesn't believe he would he would be cast if it were made today.

And he thinks that's not bad thing.

Speaking to the New York Times magazine last year, Hanks said: "Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now? No, and rightly so. The whole point of Philadelphia was, ‘Don’t be afraid'.

"One of the reasons people weren’t afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man.

"We’re beyond that now, and I don’t think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy.

"It’s not a crime, it’s not boohoo, that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity."

And this isn't the first time that a major name has come out and discussed the issue of straight men playing gay characters.

Taking a different stance to Hanks, Sir Ian McKellen said last year that he thought it was perfectly fine.

Speaking of the matter, McKellen said he agreed with Mirren's casting and that he thought a non-Jewish person could play a Jewish person.

He said: "There are two things – is the argument that a gentile cannot play a Jew, and is the argument therefore that a Jew cannot play a gentile?'

He then linked this to the argument about gay actors only playing gay roles.

"Is the argument that a straight man cannot play a gay part, and if so, does that mean I can't play straight parts and I'm not allowed to explore the fascinating subject of heterosexuality in Macbeth? Surely not. We're acting. We're pretending."