Thelma + Louise SECRETS FROM THE SET

We go behind the scenes of the iconic 1991 female buddy movie

- Emma Babbington

It is hard to imagine anyone but Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon starring in Thelma & Louise – playing the good friends whose weekend road trip becomes a road chase when they’re forced to go on the run after killing a man. But for a while Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand were tipped as leads, then director Ridley Scott lined up Jodie Foster and Michelle Pfeiffer when he first became involved in production.

When they dropped out, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn campaigned for the roles. But the stars were turned down because the studio making the movie thought Goldie was too old to play Thelma and Meryl wasn’t tough enough to play Louise.

Geena, 65, originally wanted to play Louise until she met Susan and realised the now 74-year-old actress was perfect for the role.

“Pretty much the second Susan walked in the room, I was, ‘Are you kidding that I could play Louise?’ Susan was so self-possessed, so centred and together,” Geena said in 2016.

Susan, meanwhile, didn’t have high hopes for the film. “I thought it was going to be a cowboy movie with trucks and women,” she admitted in 2020. “It turned out to be something that was so empowering and infuriating at the time.”

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