Trivia

In the scene where the tanker truck is shot and blown up, the reactions of Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were supposed to be genuine. Rather than filming separate reaction shots, director Ridley Scott rigged the tanker to blow up during the take, in order to get authentic expressions of surprise from the two leads. Despite this, they were so astonished while watching it that they forgot to actually react, so Scott had to film their reactions again.

Then struggling actor George Clooney auditioned five times for Ridley Scott for the part of J.D. that went to Brad Pitt.

A total of five identical 1966 Thunderbird convertibles were used throughout the shoot: one 'star car', one camera car, one back-up car, and two stunt cars.

It took producers so long to find someone for the role of Louise that Geena Davis had to sign a contract stating that the producers could cast her in either role if need be.

The sequence where Darryl slips and falls over on the builder's supplies as he is leaving for work was unscripted, as Christopher McDonald genuinely lost his footing. Despite this he remained in character, yelling at the workmen as he got into the car and drove away. Ridley Scott apparently liked the result, and so it remains in the film.

Callie Khouri hoped to cast Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand as Thelma and Louise.

Catherine Keener was cast in the role of Investigator Hal Slocumb's wife. Her one and only scene was cut from the final film. This deleted scene can be found on the special edition DVD of the film released in 2003 from MGM Home Entertainment.

The part played by Brad Pitt was originally intended for William Baldwin but he jumped ship when he landed the lead in Backdraft.

Both Michael Madsen and Christopher McDonald were initially in talks to play the part of Harlan, the rapist.

24 police cars and 3 helicopters were utilized for the film's climax.

With the light starting to fail and a public holiday looming, Ridley Scott had roughly 45 minutes to get the final scene just right.

Seeing the film inspired Tori Amos to write the song "Me and a Gun" about an assault she experienced at the age of 21.

Debra Winger, Rene Russo, Kelly McGillis, Kim Basinger, Catherine O'Hara and Diane Keaton were all considered to play Louise.

Debra Winger was offered the role of Thelma but turned it down.

Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Scott Baio, Christopher Atkins, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Alec Baldwin were all considered for the role of J.D.

Ellen Barkin, Glenn Close, Christine Ebersole, Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher, Mary Gross, Daryl Hannah, Barbara Hershey, Anjelica Huston, Jessica Lange, Kelly LeBrock Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Jane Seymour, Cybill Shepherd, Emma Thompson, Meg Tilly, Tracey Ullman, and Sigourney Weaver were all considered for the role of Thelma.

Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were both nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs. Ridley Scott was nominated for Best Director, but lost to Jonathan Demme, also for The Silence of the Lambs. Callie Khouri won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while Ted Tally won Best Adapted Screenplay, once again for The Silence of the Lambs. Ridley Scott went on to direct the sequel Hannibal, while Harvey Keitel would appear in the prequel, Red Dragon.

Beau Bridges was considered for the part of 'Hal' (the cop) that went to Harvey Keitel.

According to a 2011 Vanity Fair article, it was Michelle Pfeiffer's idea that Ridley Scott direct the film instead of just simply executive produce it.

According to the DVD commentary, Susan Sarandon explained that when Louise gets out of the car to throw up, egg whites were used for the vomit, and she added that they are also used for love scenes in movies.

Andie MacDowell was considered for the role of Thelma Dickinson.

Ridley Scott is very receptive to ideas from cast and crew members on his films, and used many suggestions from Susan Sarandon during production. Some ideas of Sarandon's that made the final cut of the film: the visual of Louise packing her shoes in plastic bags while prepping for the lady's weekend getaway in the mountains; the scene where Louise exchanges her jewelry for the old man's hat; and the scene where Louise stops the car in the desert at night and takes a personal moment looking at the stars while Thelma sleeps in the car. That last scene idea took half the night to light. Sarandon and her longtime partner Tim Robbins reworked most of the dialog in the sequence between Louise and her boyfriend Jimmy at the hotel in Oklahoma City. Originally that scene called for Louise and Jimmy to make love and conduct an impromptu mock wedding ceremony. Sarandon felt that having sex would be the last thing Louise would be interested in doing at that point in the story and told Scott that if she performed the sequence as written that they would have to include a scene where Louise would wig out as a result. And prior to signing on to do the film, Scott gave Sarandon his word that he would not change the ending of the movie. She had just experienced that on her last movie, White Palace, with the original, ambiguous ending being scrapped in favor of a more upbeat one and did not want "Thelma & Louise" to meet a similar fate.

In the documentary The Celluloid Closet (based on the Vito Russo book of the same name), Susan Sarandon said that she added the kiss between Louise and Thelma at the end of the movie. Sarandon said that she told costar Geena Davis (but no one else) that she was going to kiss her.