22 unknown facts about “Thelma and Louise” - Ridley Scott’s most opportunistic film, which launched Brad Pitt’s career (8 photos + 1 video)

The drama "Thelma and Louise" hit the big screen in 1991. The film did well at the box office and received six Oscar nominations. “Thelma and Louise” was able to win only in one category – best screenplay.





1. The fate of Thelma and Louise is closely intertwined with another 1991 hit, The Silence of the Lambs (22 facts about this film). Not only in terms of confrontation at the Oscar ceremony (the score was 5:1 in favor of “Lambs”). Jodie Foster (Thelma = Michelle Pfeiffer) was considered for the role of Louise, but due to delays in pre-production, she left, you guess where.

2. “Thelma and Louise” is one of five films in the history of cinema that received two Oscar nominations for Best Actress. But in the end he lost to Jodie Foster for “Lambs.”

2.1. Ridley Scott also lost the Best Director Oscar to Jonathan Demme. However, Scott later directed the sequel to Lambs, Hannibal (2001), and Harvey Keitel (Hal Slocumb) played in the prequel, Red Dragon (2002).



3. Geena Davis (Thelma Dickinson) showed more restraint (the actress generally tends to act less often, but in a way that will be remembered for a long time) and waited for filming for more than a year. Since the producers still could not decide on an actress for the role of Louise, Davis’s contract stipulated the performance of one or the other role, depending on the circumstances. Davis herself really wanted to play Louise.

4. Davis actually played the role of an influential eminence grise in the casting. Scott initially cast William Baldwin for the role of J.D. Ridley. But he quickly jumped to Ron Howard on “Backdraft”, from where, in turn, Brad Pitt was thrashed. Then other actors began to be invited to auditions with Davis, including George Clooney and Robert Downey (Jr.). Clooney generally considered this role 100% his own and went through as many as five circles of hell stages, but Davis did not want to see anyone in this role except the unknown Pitt.

4.1. By the way, Christopher MacDonald (Darryl) and Geena Davis were briefly engaged in 1984. It was she who recommended him for the role.

5. In this scene, MacDonald's fall was an accident, but the actor behaved so naturally that Scott decided to leave this particular take in the film.





6. For the erotic scene between J.D. and Thelma, Scott planned to hire a stunt double for Davis and focus on Pitt. You can imagine the actress’s indignation when she found out about this :) She categorically, categorically and definitively demanded that she be returned to the frame.

6.1. The rough editing of the erotic scene lasted 15 minutes. The viewer has still not seen him in any of the extended versions of the film.

7. Depending on the situation, the viewer sees five different Ford Thunderbird convertibles: one for overview filming, the second for “interior” filming, two stunt cars for stunts and another vehicle “just in case.”

8. Louise (Susan Sarandon) “vomited” egg whites :)



9. Screenwriter Callie Khoury based Louise on herself and Thelma on her friend, American country singer Pam Tillis.

10. The producers of the low-budget film Attack of the Killer Babes (1988) accused Thelma & Louise of plagiarism. Has anyone seen this picture?

11. The opening credits music was supposed to be played at the very end of the film, but Ridley Scott was so impressed by Hans Zimmer's work that he moved the theme to the beginning of the film.



12. Other contenders for the role of the Thelma + Louise couple were: Frances McDormand and Holly Hunter, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. Let's vote!

13. Geena Davis divorced her husband (Jeff Goldblum) shortly after filming ended. The Internet is full of rumors about their secret affair with Brad Pitt, but there is no documentary evidence, especially from the actors themselves.

14. The address of the motel in Oklahoma where Louise meets Jimmy is real. But now it no longer smells like a motel; there is a spare parts store there.



15. The lead singer of a rock band in an Arkansas bar is American singer Charlie Sexton. And he performs his song “Badlands”.

16. Ridley Scott paid Callie Khoury $500 thousand for the script. This was Khoury's first screenwriting experience. Since then, she has not created anything notable. But she received a difficult Oscar for this work: she became the first woman to win the award to write the script alone.

17. During filming in a roadside bar, the extras got pretty drunk. Davis and Sarandon in the frame are also heavily dosed with tequila.



17.1. Michael Madsen recalled that during filming he and Pitt regularly smoked. Madsen philosophically noted: “every actor finds his own way to character.”

18. Christopher McDonald gained 10 kg for the role of Darryl.

19. There is not a single shot of the Grand Canyon in the film. Instead, the viewer was treated to some very impressive scenery from Dead Horse National Park (Utah).

19.1. There are no Arkansas or Oklahomas in the frame either. These are California and Utah.



20. Sorry for the beard :) but in the early 90s you didn’t have to wait several minutes to track a phone number. It happened instantly.

21. Brad Pitt's salary is $6 thousand. Five years later, he earned $10 million for his role in the film “Sleepers.”

22. Film budget - $16.5 million, box office receipts - $45.4 million.

Bonus fact: alternate movie ending