Trivia for
Thelma & Louise (1991) More at IMDbPro »

• Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep wanted to make a movie together and Thelma & Louise was one of the scripts they considered. Ultimately, they decided to star in Death Becomes Her (1992) instead.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• For the more raunchy sex scenes between Brad Pitt and Geena Davis, director Ridley Scott had assumed that a body double would be needed for Geena. Shortly after he'd begun auditioning prospective doubles, Davis learned of Scott's intentions and insisted that no doubles were needed in those steamy scenes.
  
  
• Then struggling actor George Clooney auditioned five times for Ridley Scott for the part of J.D. that went to Brad Pitt.
  
  
• In an interesting twist of fate, Brad Pitt lost out on the role of Brian McCaffrey in Backdraft (1991) to William Baldwin, who then had to be released from his contract to play the small part of J. D. in Thelma & Louise (1991) that was re-cast with 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.
  
  
• Callie Khouri first conceived the project in 1979. She was hired by Ridley Scott for a project called "Thelma & Louise" around 1980. Ridley Scott was going to produce, and Khouri was appointed as director. They were turned down by many studios, until MGM purchased the rights in 1981. But Khouri wasn't ready to direct the film, so Scott was going to direct himself. The movie was originally announced in 1981 for a 1983 release. Originally, Scott and Khouri wanted Natalie Wood for Thelma and Tuesday Weld as Louise. However, Wood died in 1981 and Weld quickly dropped out from the project, so this would never come to pass. A number of filmmakers were attached to Khouri's script including 'Brian de Palma', John Carpenter and Sidney Lumet. By 1988, Ridley Scott spoke of casting Mia Farrow, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Candice Bergen, Tuesday Weld, Meryl Streep, Liza Minnelli Jessica Lange, Isabella Rossellini or Jodie Foster for the role of Thelma; Michelle Pfeiffer, Melanie Griffith, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close, Mary Steenburgen, Kim Basinger, Ellen Barkin, Goldie Hawn, Anjelica Huston, Sigourney Weaver or Lorraine Bracco would be considered for the role of Louise; Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, 'Robert de Niro', Steve Martin, David Bowie, Tim Curry, Richard Gere, Pierce Brosnan or James Woods could be Hal; Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis, Rick Moranis or Chevy Chase would play Jimmy; Jon Voight, Willem Dafoe or John Travolta would be Max; and Christopher Atkins would be J.D.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Cher was also offered the role of Thelma, but turned it down.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Ridley Scott was reportedly so amazed with Hans Zimmer's score that he created a main title sequence (with Zimmer's music over it), rather than giving the main credits at the end as it was primarily planned.
  
  
• Callie Khouri hoped to cast Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand as Thelma and Louise.
  
  
• 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 (1990), 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.
  
  
• At one point Richard Donner was actively interested in directing.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Average Shot Length = ~6.3 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.1 seconds.
  
  
• The part played by Brad Pitt was originally intended for William Baldwin but he jumped ship when he landed the lead in Backdraft (1991).
  
  
• Thelma's date of birth according to the police broadcast is November 27, 1956. Screenwriter Callie Khouri was born on November 27, 1957.
  
  
• Both Michael Madsen and Christopher McDonald were initially in talks to play the part of Harlan, the rapist.
  
  
• Callie Khouri's original plan for the film was to direct it herself, on a very low budget and with a documentary feel to it.
  
  
• 24 police cars and 3 helicopters were utilized for the film's climax.
  
  
• Scott watched Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973) for inspiration for the look of the film.
  
  
• With the light starting to fail and a public holiday looming, Ridley Scott had roughly 45 minutes to get the final scene just right.
  
  
• In the documentary The Celluloid Closet (1995) (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.
  
  
• The scene where Louise grabs Thelma's headphones off her and scares her wasn't planned. In the DVD's audio commentary, Geena Davis commented that she was supposed to get up when Susan Sarandon called her from the car, but she had the volume on her walkman up too high and didn't hear her cue so Susan came over to get her.
  
  
• Seeing the film inspired Tori Amos to write the song "Me and a Gun" about an assault she experienced at the age of 21.
  
  
• Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathleen Turner were both offered the role of Thelma but turned it down. Tatum O'Neal auditioned for the role but lost out to Geena Davis in the final audition.
  
  
• Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Kelly McGillis, Kim Basinger, Catherine O'Hara and Diane Keaton were all considered to play Louise.
  
  
• Rosanna Arquette and Phoebe Cates were initially in talks to play the part of Thelma.
  
  
• Debra Winger was offered the role of Thelma but turned it down.
  
  
• Kay Lenz and Bridget Fonda were in talks to star as Thelma.
  
  
• Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Scott Baio, Christopher Atkins, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Alec Baldwin were all considered for the role of J.D.
  
  
• Joan Cusack was considered for the role of Thelma.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Jennifer Beals was considered for the role of Louise.
  
  
• More than 40 people were considered to direct the movie.
  
  
• Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were both nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Ridley Scott was nominated for Best Director, but lost to Jonathan Demme, also for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Callie Khouri won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while Ted Tally won Best Adapted Screenplay, once again for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Ridley Scott went on to direct the sequel Hannibal (2001), while Harvey Keitel would appear in the prequel, Red Dragon (2002).
  
  

• SPOILER: Ridley Scott filmed a longer ending (found on the Special Edition DVD) in which we see the car plunge into the canyon, with a melancholy B.B. King song playing in the background. Instead he opted for a more upbeat ending with the car frozen in ascent and Hans Zimmer's score playing.
  
  
• SPOILER: The studio was very resistant to the downbeat ending and were very keen to find an alternative. As they were unable to come up with a better conclusion, they eventually conceded.
  
  

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