George Clooney reflects on the time he missed out on the role that helped propel Brad Pitt to movie stardom, 1991’s JD. Thelma and Louise.
Talk to London weatherClooney said he made it to the final audition before the role slipped away from him.
“I got to the final test for a role in Thelma & Louise. And, motherfucker, Brad got it,” he recalls.
At the time, Clooney worked primarily in television and thought this role could have changed everything for him.
He revealed that he avoided watching the film for years because losing was frustrating.
“This is the role that launched his movie career. He did sitcoms and shit before, so when was this the one that could have launched me? F***!” he said.
Brad Pitt ultimately won the role and delivered an exceptional performance as the charming drifter who crosses paths with Geena Davis’ character.
Clooney later admitted that once he finally watched the film, he knew the casting was good. “But of course, when I saw it, I thought it must be this guy,” he said.
Even Clooney’s friends reminded him of this moment. Adam Sandler joked that when Pitt took off his shirt on screen, the audience reaction made it clear whose role it was.
Geena Davis shared in a previous interview that several actors were competing for the character of JD and she remembers reading scenes with the finalists.
Pitt was the last to audition and his presence was immediately noticed.
Davis said she even stumbled over his lines while reading with him due to his impression. When asked for her opinion, she simply called him “the blond one” and the choice was clear.
Although the role went to Pitt, the two actors found success in Hollywood and remained friends over the years.
And while Thelma and Louise gave Pitt his defining moment, Clooney’s career finally took off on its own, something he now looks back on with humor rather than regret.
