Thelma and Louise was a 1991 road trip film with a difference: the two road buddies were played by women (Susan Saradon and Geena Davis). The adventures they found themselves in all followed from the fact that they were women in a man’s world, but it was far from what most people think of as a “chick flick.” Twenty-four years after its release, let’s look back into the making of the film. There’s a lot to learn, like how that astonishingly hot young unknown actor ended up in the middle of it. Credit Geena Davis.
3. GEORGE CLOONEY AUDITIONED FIVE TIMES TO PLAY J.D.
Clooney was on the short list for the role that eventually went to Brad Pitt, and became his big break. “The funniest thing is, I didn’t watch that movie for a long time,” Clooney admitted during a Q&A at the Telluride Film Festival. “I was really stuck doing a lot of bad TV at that time. And I had auditioned and auditioned, and it got right down to Brad and I, and he got it. And I just couldn’t watch that movie for a couple of years ... When I saw it, I thought actually that was the right choice. [Brad] was really good in it, and I would have f***ed it up somehow."
4. BRAD PITT WAS PAID $6,000 FOR HIS WORK IN THE FILM.
That was in 1991. Just five years later, he earned $10 million for his work in Barry Levinson's Sleepers.
5. GEENA DAVIS HAD A HAND IN CASTING PITT.
Geena Davis admitted that she kept messing up her lines when auditioning with Pitt because he was so attractive. When Scott and the casting director were discussing who to cast, she reportedly jumped in: "The blond one. Duh!” Julie Strain was hired to play Davis’ body double in the movie, but Davis opted to shoot her sex scene with Pitt directly.
There’s lots more, covering the script, casting, and the ending they did not use, which you can see in the article at mental_floss.