Brad Pitt made a splash in 1991’s Thelma & Louise — a job which nearly went to George Clooney.
“So, I used to be in TV. I used to be making an excellent residing, however again then actors would say, ‘Nicely, I’m a movie actor — I simply occur to be doing TV,’” Clooney, 64, advised The Occasions of London in a Saturday, November 29, profile. “I obtained to the ultimate check for a job in Thelma & Louise. And, mom****er, Brad obtained it.”
Within the 1991 movie, a pair of finest pals (performed by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon) set out on an journey that ends with them being hunted by the police. Pitt, 61, obtained his huge break enjoying J.D. within the movie.
“I didn’t watch Thelma & Louise for years as a result of I used to be irritated,” Clooney recalled to The Occasions of shedding the position. “The half launched his profession in movie. He was doing sitcoms and crap earlier than, so when it was the factor that might’ve launched me? F***!”
Clooney and Pitt have been longtime pals and costars, usually discussing the Thelma & Louise casting battle.
“Oh yeah, he provides me s***,” Clooney quipped of Pitt. “However, in fact, after I noticed it, I used to be, like, effectively it needed to be that man.”
Pitt’s J.D. has a significant topless scene, which is how Clooney knew he wasn’t proper for the half.
“I noticed that on the cinema and when Brad took his shirt off individuals went nuts,” Clooney’s Jay Kelly costar Adam Sandler jokingly advised The Occasions. “However it ought to have been you, Clooney.”

Geena Davis and Brad Pitt. MGM/ Courtesy of Everett Assortment
Pitt and Clooney had been simply two of the actors that fought to play J.D. on the large display screen, alongside Grant Present and Mark Ruffalo.
“As soon as I used to be forged, it was right down to 4 finalists for that position,” Davis, now 69, stated on the Graham Norton Present in 2022, detailing how Pitt was forged. “They stated, ‘Would you learn with them, so we may see [with] each?’ [They all] got here in, each was good-looking, all of them had brown hair and had been very proficient. I didn’t care who it was going to be.”
Based on Davis, Pitt was the final man to check out for the half.
“He’s so charismatic and so extremely proficient that I used to be screwing up his audition as a result of I forgot to say my line,” she recalled. “I’m like, ‘Wow, he’s actually proficient.’ I didn’t know in the event that they needed my opinion or not, however I stated, ‘Would you be focused on realizing my response?’ They stated, ‘Oh, please.’”
Davis then proclaimed that she favored “the blonde one.”
Shedding an element in Thelma & Louise hasn’t hindered Clooney’s profession within the slightest, who’s gone on to have an equally acclaimed run on the large display screen.
“I’m continuously making an attempt to determine issues out about myself as I become older,” Clooney solely advised Us Weekly on the Jay Kelly premiere final month. “At this level in my profession and life, if any individual writes a extremely good script and a extremely good half, which there aren’t that a lot of, then you definately simply leap on board and take a look at to not mess it up. I’m 64. I’m not likely able to look backwards and kind of relaxation on [my career]. I kind of get pleasure from trying ahead and seeing what’s coming subsequent.”


