Academy Award winner George Clooney recalls the time he lost a role to colleague and collaborator Brad Pitt, and got “pissed” over the part that would have surely shot him into stardom a few years before he had his breakout. The film in question is Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, the crime drama starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis about two women escaping from the authorities after their lives take a drastic turn during a road trip.
Clooney is currently promoting his latest film, Noah’s Baumbach comedy drama Jay Kelly. The film sees Clooney playing a very famous actor on a European tour where he bonds with Ron, his manager. When talking to Screen Rant about the Netflix movie, Clooney reflects on how the film has a sort of semi-autobiographical element to it. When asked if there’s a film he wishes he could have done, Clooney mentions Thelma & Louise. Nevertheless, he says no actor should ever look back, wishing they had played roles others took:
“Well, I had a couple of films that I tried to get. It came down to Brad Pitt and me, and both of us were kind of struggling at the time, for Thelma & Louise. Pitt got it, and I was pissed! [Laughs] I didn’t watch the movie for years, and that was a launching pad for Brad. I remember thinking, ‘That f-cker…’
“And then I saw it, and I go, ‘Of course, he should have gotten it.’ There are a couple of things that got away over time, but for the right reasons. People’s careers kind of come and go; they work out when they work out. You can’t look back and go, ‘Sh*t, I should have done that one.’”
In Thelma & Louise, Pitt gives life to J.D., a hitchhiker who bonds with Thelma, and actually joins the women for a part of the road trip, before he shows his true nature. The film wasn’t exactly Pitt’s first Hollywood film, but it was an essential predecessor to major projects like A River Runs Through It, Kalifornia, and Interview with the Vampire.
George Clooney’s Career Took a Few More Years to Break Into the Hollywood Scene
Thelma & Louise was released in 1991, and by that time, Clooney was still working primarily in television. He appeared in shows like Sunset Beat, Roseanne, and Bodies and Evidence, the latter being one of his first leading roles before ER. In 1994, everything changed for the actor, as he found himself playing Dr. Doug Ross in one of the most beloved dramas in ’90s television.
ER was a launching platform for the actor who never fully returned to television. He became a movie star, appearing in films like From Dusk Till Dawn, One Fine Day, The Peacemaker, and Out of Sight. Sure, there was also Batman & Robin, but the actor isn’t exactly proud of it. Clooney was suddenly a great leading man, and in Ocean’s Eleven he proved he could stand out amid a sea of leading men. The group included the co-star whom he had “resented” years ago for snatching the Thelma & Louise role, Brad Pitt.
- Release Date
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May 24, 1991
- Runtime
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130 Minutes
- Writers
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Callie Khouri
- Producers
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Mimi Polk Gitlin