'Thelma & Louise' turns 30: Susan Sarandon opens up on unscripted kiss with Geena Davis

The 1991 American road crime drama film Thelma & Louise released 30 years ago on May 24. Helmed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, the movie starred Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise two friends who go on a road trip which leads to them running from the law after they murder a rapist. It was this movie that introduced Brad Pitt who played the role of J.D., a young lad who woos Thelma. On its 30th anniversary, Susan Saradon revealed that she knew Brad Pitt was something special after watching the movie and spilt the tea on one of his scenes from it. 

Susan Sarandon remembers an oiled-up young Brad Pitt

Originally set to be played by Billy Baldwin, the role of J.D. fell into the lap of Brad Pitt after Billy dropped out from the movie. Talking about Brad Pitt's role as a cowboy hitchhiker in the movie, Susan Sarandon in her interview with Yahoo called Brad a darling and said that the makers spent a lot of time shooting Geena and Brad's love scene. She recalled that during the shoot Geena told her that the director Ridley was personally oiling Brad down and he got more attention than she did. Susan further added that when she watched the movie on the screen, she knew that Brad is special.

Susan Sarandon says her kiss with Geena was not scripted

The actor also revealed that the kiss between her and Geena Davis in the film's climax scene was not scripted. The film ends with the women in a car being cornered by the police just some metres away from the Grand Canyon. Instead of surrendering and going to jail, the film shows the friends kissing and holding hands as they step on the gas and speed off over the Grand Canyon cliff to their deaths. Sharing that the scene was improvised she said the climax scene was shot in one take as they spent the entire day filming the helicopter scenes. She recounted that as they had just one take for the climax she told the director that she is going to grab Geena and kiss her to which he responded with "OK" and that is how the scene happened. 

More about Thelma & Louise

The movie had made headlines even before its release because of its constant cast change. The movie had originally cast Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster as the leads but they both dropped out in the pre-production stage. The makers then offered the role to Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. While Meryl dropped out due to date issues, Goldie was not considered to be the perfect fit for the role. Finally, the film cast Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as Thelma and Louise, respectively. Thelma & Louise was a box office success and earned five Oscar nominations and won the Best Original Screenplay Award. The movie also won the Golden Globes for Best Screenplay. 

IMAGE: SUSAN SARANDON'S INSTAGRAM