Thelma & Louise

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep looked at Thelma & Louise as a project they could do together, but they decided to do Death Becomes Her instead. Obviously, they did not anticipate Brad Pitt being cast.
2. Thelma & Louise director Ridley Scott assumed he would have to use a body double for Geena Davis in most of the sex scenes between Brad Pitt and the older actress. But Davis wasn't having any of that and insisted that no doubles were needed. Surprised?
3. Brad Pitt and George Clooney were struggling actors in 1990 when they both auditioned for the part of J.D. Brad Pitt may have won out in the end, but there were no hard feelings - they have gone on to star in many movies together and are good friends in real life. I guess the fact that they've both had great careers and been crowned the "Sexiest Man Alive" on multiple occasions helps keep the animosity at bay.
4. To get all the shots, filmmakers used five 1966 Thunderbird convertibles. Two of them were dubbed "stunt cars" - I wonder how they looked by the end of the movie.
5. Thelma & Louise director Ridley Scott wanted to shoot "authentic expressions of surprise" from the film's two leading ladies so he did not inform them he was going to blow up a tanker truck during a take. His plan backfired. Both ladies were so stunned they failed to react at all.
6. Actor Billy Baldwin had to be released from his Thelma & Louise contract in order to play the lead role in Backdraft. This was both good and bad news for Brad Pitt. He had lost out on the Backdraft role to Baldwin but was cast in his discarded Thelma & Louise role. Of course, this was great news for Geena Davis.
7. Geena Davis was sitting in limbo for quite a while before filming actually began on Thelma & Louise. She did not know which role she would be playing. Producers took so long finding someone to play Louise that they made her sign a contract stating that she would play either role.
8. Sometimes there are happy accidents, as was the case during filming Thelma & Louise. Actor Christopher McDonald somehow managed to stay in character after tripping over building supplies during a take. The director liked the result so much he kept it in the film.
9. Director Ridley Scott used many of actress Susan Sarandon's suggestions in Thelma & Louise. The scene where Sarandon's character stops the car in the desert to enjoy the stars while her cohort slept was just one such suggestion. It also gave Sarandon more screen time.
10. The iconic final scene of Thelma & Louise is referenced in lots of other films. My favorite - one of the endings of Wayne's World 2, where Wayne and Garth are about to drive off the cliff and then decide instead to have their rock concert. Party time! Excellent!

Cast

Crew