Where this was said
Thelma & Louise: Reception, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney's Confession
At 50:40 · chapter starts 49:20
The cultural reception of Thelma & Louise in 1991 was more complicated than its legacy suggests. A week after release, Susan and Geena were on the cover of Time magazine alongside editorials denouncing the film's supposed misandry. (Dax's response: 'You mean rapist-bashing?') It succeeded commercially anyway. Brad Pitt showed up as an unknown and was instantly, obviously a star — playful, loose, fully committed, and having the best time of his life. Years later, sitting next to George Clooney on a transatlantic flight, Geena learned that Clooney had auditioned for the Pitt role and never let go of the loss. She had no memory of his audition — and lied and said she did, because she wasn't yet brave enough to say otherwise.
Brad Pitt showed up to Thelma & Louise as an unknown and was immediately, obviously a star — fun, playful, loose, and totally unselfconscious. Geena Davis says she knew the moment she saw the audience's reaction that this was the reaction he was always going to get.
On a transatlantic flight, George Clooney told Geena Davis he 'hated' Brad Pitt — then revealed it was because Pitt got the part in Thelma & Louise. Clooney had auditioned with Davis. She had absolutely no memory of it. She lied and said she did.
A League of Their Own opened number one and became the 10th biggest movie of 1992, a commercial triumph that surprised even Geena Davis.
