Highlights
- Brad Pitt's breakthrough role in Thelma & Louise catapulted him into Hollywood stardom, despite facing competition from other actors.
- Geena Davis was instantly captivated by Pitt's charm during their audition, leading to intense on-screen chemistry between them.
- Pitt and Davis's on-screen connection translated into a real-life romance, which they managed to keep hidden due to their modest lifestyles at the time.
With over 30 blockbusters in his repertoire, Brad Pitt reigns supreme among the most bankable stars in Hollywood. But before he could become a box office phenomenon, the ageless heartthrob had to settle for a less than lucrative, albeit career-altering role in Ridley Scott’s 1991 cult classic, Thelma & Louise.
Triumphing over heavyweights like George Clooney and Robert Downey, Pitt secured the role of J.D., Thelma’s (Geena Davis) enigmatic love interest in the film. As the cameras rolled, sparks flew between the twosome’s on-screen personas, leaving audiences wondering if their chemistry extended beyond the silver screen. So, did Pitt somehow manage to steal Thelma’s heart in real life too?
Thelma & Louise Was Brad Pitt’s Breakout Movie Role
Released in 1991, Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise is renowned for its strong female leads and resonant feminist themes. The film, which has since become a cult classic, also marked Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt’s entry into the big leagues. However, then a Hollywood newcomer, Pitt wasn't exactly a top contender for the role of sexy hitchhiker, J.D.
“I just thought, I’m the guy for this,” he told W Magazine in January 2023. “But they went through a couple of other actors. I didn’t get the part at first, and then it came back around, and I didn’t get it again, and I went, “Huh. All right. Moving on.” And then it came back around again. I feel like it was three times.”
It wasn’t until his audition with Geena Davis, who portrayed Thelma in the film, that the scales really tipped in his favor. “Each of them were very handsome,” Davis said of her chemistry reads with the five top contenders for the role of sexy hitchhiker J.D. during a 2022 appearance on The Graham Norton Show. “They all had brown hair and were very talented. I didn’t care who it was going to be.”
Enter a 28-year-old Brad Pitt, whose iconic good looks had Davis so gobsmacked, she had trouble maintaining her composure during the audition. “I did fine with the first few guys,” she admitted to Vanity Fair in 2011. “But the last one [Pitt] was so cute I kept messing up my lines. I’m dying because I’m thinking, ‘He’s great, and I’m ruining his audition.’ I kept saying, ‘I’m so sorry!’ But he’s so chill: ‘Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s all good.’”
So taken was the actress with Pitt, she failed to notice she’d auditioned with yet another future Hollywood heartthrob. “I was sitting on a plane next to George Clooney a couple years ago,” she told Access Hollywood in 2015.
“He says, 'I'm still mad at Brad Pitt.' I said, 'Why, I thought he was like your great friend.' He says, 'He got the part in Thelma & Louise.' I said, 'Did you want to be that part?'" Turns out Clooney had been one of the other four guys Davis had auditioned with. "He was one of the other guys that read with me!" she said. "I should never have just admitted I forgot George Clooney."
And it wasn’t just Davis who had a great time at the audition. “The read was a delight,” Pitt admitted to Vanity Fair in 2011. “Geena was incredibly disarming and playful as an actor. Rid was kind and to the point.”
Geena Davis And Brad Pitt Had Intense Chemistry On Thelma & Louise
After the electrifying audition, Davis knew exactly whom the role of J.D. should go to. “Lou and Ridley were talking about the other guys: ‘This one had a certain roughness. That one had a good look.’ They're not mentioning the last one!,” Davis recalled during her interview with Vanity Fair. “So I said, ‘Can I say something?’ And they're ‘Of course.’ I said, ‘The blond one. Duh!’”
The then 35-year-old kept gunning for Pitt, heedless of their seven-year age difference. “They then cast Brad Pitt to be my sort of…. love interest, and it wasn’t actually because he was younger,” she admitted during an appearance on the Allison Interviews podcast.
“They didn’t purposely try to cast someone younger than me. He just gave the best audition and he was the best choice. But I thought that was pretty cool. He’s only, like, seven years younger than me, but I thought that was quite cool that they did that.”
Davis' instincts turned out to be spot on, as sparks flew between the duo on screen, resulting in some pretty steamy NSFW scenes. “Geena [Davis] was so sweet and kind and delicate,” Pitt would later reveal to W Magazine. “That love scene, I think, went on for two days of shooting. She took care of me.”
Did Geena Davis And Brad Pitt Have A Secret Fling After Thelma & Louise?
The sizzling on-screen chemistry between Brad Pitt’s J.D. and Geena Davis’ Thelma fueled endless speculation about a possible off-screen romance. As it turns out, this assumption was spot-on!
The duo’s undeniable on-screen connection sparked a real-life romance, with Pitt frequently sneaking off to go visit Davis long after production had concluded. Then in the limelight, Davis had qualms about visiting Pitt, who was living in a frat-like North Hollywood apartment with a bunch of other struggling actors at the time.
Given Pitt’s immense star power and the longstanding fascination surrounding his love life, one might wonder how he and Davis managed to keep their fling hidden. However, as revealed by Beverly Hills 90210 star, Jason Priestley, in a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pitt was then just another “unemployed couch surfer,” a far cry from the mega star we all know today. “We lived on ramen noodles and generic beer — the kind that came in white cans labeled BEER — and Marlboro Light cigarettes,” Priestley revealed. “We were all broke.”
Tragically, Davis and Pitt's relationship didn't manage to go the distance. However, unlike Thelma, who undoubtedly felt jilted after J.D ran off with her money, Davis still holds Pitt in high regard. “[Brad Pitt] just has ‘it,’” she gushed to People amid Pitt’s 2022 Oscar win. “He has done so many incredible things over the years. I don’t think that it is unusual for him to be honored. He really is the ‘star’ of the moment, which is fabulous, and it is just great to see.”
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