Thirty years on from its original release, Thelma and Louise still stands as one of the best feminist films of our time.
Starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in the titular roles, the dark comedy-slash-crime drama has only continued to grow in relevance across new waves of feminism and a post #MeToo world.
However, there was a time where it seemed like the film might not even get made, as director Ridley Scott hunted for the perfect two women to take on the roles of the literal ride-or-die best friends Thelma and Louise.
We’re looking back at Thelma and Louise’s ongoing legacy, and the seven things you might not have known about the film.
Casting took a long time.
Casting the roles of Thelma and Louise took a long time for director Ridley Scott and writer Callie Khouri, who originally planned to make the film herself. In fact, while she was writing the screenplay, Khouri admitted she fantasised about casting Holly Hunter as Thelma and Frances McDormand as Louise. However, once production was set to begin, Khouri and Scott struggled to find the right actors for the two roles, knowing they had the scope to become iconic characters with the right actresses behind them.
Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster in the early 1990s. Image: Getty.
“After she [Khouri] sold the rights to Ridley, and Mimi [Polk Gitlin] to produce, Jodie Foster and Michelle Pfeiffer became the next pairing,” Geena Davis wrote in her memoir, Dying of Politeness.
“The timing didn’t work on that one, as Jodie went off to do an obscure little thing called The Silence of the Lambs and Michelle shot Love Field. Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep were also in talks… but Meryl thought one of the two main characters should survive, and that pairing also faced scheduling issues,” she added.
Davis explains that she was “insanely fixated” on the film, and had her agent call Scott’s office “approximately 52 times (that is, every week for a year)”.
She eventually signed on to play either Thelma or Louise depending on the other actress who was cast, which ended up being Susan Sarandon.
“The second I met her, I saw she was so obviously Louise,” Davis wrote of her co-star.
Davis and Sarandon in the film. Image: Getty.
A double Oscar nomination.
Even though it took a while to cast, the duo were dynamic as Thelma and Louise. Their performances earned both Sarandon and Davis a Best Actress nomination for the 1992 Academy Awards - something that had only happened a handful of times before.
Unfortunately, neither of them won the award, which ended up going to Jodie Foster for Silence of the Lambs, the ‘little project’ she’d left Thelma and Louise to star in. In fact, Silence of the Lambs swept the Oscars that year, winning seven awards in total.
Thelma and Louise won Best Original Screenplay, but was nominated for six others.
George Clooney almost played JD.
A young Brad Pitt famously played the role of JD in the film, Thelma’s love criminal love interest. However, he wasn’t the only soon-to-be-A-lister who auditioned for the role.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Davis shared what the audition process was like.
“Each of them were very handsome… they all had brown hair and were very talented. I didn’t care who it was going to be,” she explained.
“Then the fourth one comes in, and it’s Brad Pitt. He’s so charismatic and so incredibly talented that I was screwing up his audition,” she admitted.
However, the ‘forgettable’ candidates comprised Mark Ruffalo, Grant Show, and George Clooney.
Brad Pitt with Davis in the film. Image: Getty.
Davis ran into Clooney on a flight many years later, where he jokingly said to her “I hate Brad Pitt… I hate him because he got the part”.
“I said ‘Oh did you want the part?’ and he said, ‘You couldn’t tell when I auditioned with you?’ And it was George Clooney,” she said, having forgotten the audition entirely.
It was one of Ridley Scott’s ‘cheerful’ films.
While Ridley Scott didn’t win the Academy Award for Thelma and Louise, he would win Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes for The Martian in 2016. The two films show off Scott’s great range, which has included the likes of Blade Runner and Alien, all the way through to the 2022 film House of Gucci. His ability to manage comedy and darkness is something he worked hard for.
“I can do dark things, but I’m pretty cheerful,” Scott has said.
“That’s why I was able to do Thelma and Louise. I think the writer expected something different. Something more serious. I read it – same material, I didn't alter it or anything – but I just thought it was really funny,” he shared of the film.
“But by doing that, you reach more people. If you go dark and serious, you lose 50 percent. I felt it was a film that needed to be seen,” he added.
The backlash from men was ... unsurprising.
Despite the film being both a critical and commercial success, it wasn’t without its criticisms. Many male reviewers took issue with the content in the film, especially the violence towards men.
“I completely underestimated that we were backing into territory held by white heterosexual males,” Sarandon said at a 30 year anniversary event for the film.
“They got offended and accused us of glorifying murder and suicide and all kinds of things.
“It didn’t seem like a big deal, it seemed like it was unusual that there would be a woman that you could be friends with in a film.”
Image: Getty.
Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon’s very real friendship.
Sarandon and Davis weren’t just best friends on screen, with their work spilling over into their real lives, where they formed a strong bond.
Davis paid tribute to Sarandon's influence in her momoir, sharing how she taught her to stand up for herself: “It’s not overstating it to say that Susan has changed my life more than anyone I’ve ever known."
“How had I never been exposed to a woman like this? A woman who very simply and clearly said what she thought?” Davis mused.
She added that hanging out with Susan was “like a reprogramming for me. Just to observe Susan moving through the world was like learning a new language."
Feature Image: Getty.
