George Clooney was furious he lost Thelma & Louise role to Brad Pitt, says Geena Davis
In Geena Davis' memoir Dying Of Politeness, she recalls meeting George Clooney and how Susan Sarandon changed her life
Aux News Thelma & Louise
George Clooney and Brad Pitt are one of Hollywood’s best-known bromances, but if there’s one thing that could come between them, it is–apparently–Geena Davis. In her memoir Dying Of Politeness (excerpted by The Times), the chapter on Thelma & Louise is called “The Blond One” in honor of Pitt’s memorable audition, amongst a sea of brunettes, to be her paramour in the film.
“Fast-forward a few years and I was boarding a flight from Geneva to LAX. A group of flight attendants were waiting at the aircraft door. When I got close, one of them said, ‘Guess who you’re sitting next to! George Clooney!’” Davis writes in the book. “For once in my life accomplishing the feat of saying the perfect thing at the perfect time, I replied, ‘Guess who he’s sitting next to?’”
Davis describes Clooney being “just as friendly as you’d hope him to be,” and after chatting together for a while he suddenly declared, “You know what, I hate that Brad Pitt.” Laughing, she replied, “‘No, you don’t. Isn’t he, like, your best friend?’ ‘No, no, I hate him,’” George said. ‘He got the part in Thelma & Louise,’” Davis recalls.
(Clooney has certainly gotten revenge on his pal, presumably several times over. In a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the Oscar winner describes sending people prank letters on Pitt’s stationary. One went to Meryl Streep, alongside a “bunch of CDs” from a dialect coach: “Meryl said she avoided Brad for like five years!”)
Back on the plane, Davis replied, “‘Oh, I see. Did you want that part?’ ‘Well, yes–couldn’t you tell when I auditioned with you?’” Unfortunately, she didn’t actually remember the audition, especially because it was a pre-ER young Clooney. She didn’t want to say, “Oh my God, were you one of the guys with brown hair?” She writes, “Nope, too polite still. Instead I said, ‘Oh yes, I could tell. You were so great.’ Wimp.”
The premise of the book, of course, is the ways Davis’s politeness hindered her throughout her life (including a distressing encounter with Bill Murray). But Thelma & Louise was a landmark moment for her, not just because of its lasting success or because of Brad Pitt. It’s her co-star Susan Sarandon who made the biggest impression.
“It’s not overstating it to say that Susan has changed my life more than anyone I’ve known,” Davis writes. She remembers being astonished by Sarandon’s assertiveness in offering director Ridley Scott notes on the script, and being floored when she promised to bring Davis up on stage with her if she won the Oscar.
The Beetlejuice star elaborated on Sarandon’s impact in a recent interview with Good Morning Britain, saying, “It totally changed my life, because somehow in my sheltered life, I had never spent time with a woman who says what she thinks without qualifiers in front of it. I was used to living as somebody who says, ‘I don’t know if you agree with this or if this is a good idea.’ I was busy dying of politeness.
“As soon as I met Susan, oh my God, this was a whole different world,” Davis continued. “And it wasn’t that anyone reacted differently to her. Everyone loved her and everything. I was like, ‘Wow, you can actually be like that.’ She showed me what it’s like to live authentically and be in the moment.” The impact of Thelma & Louise truly is far-reaching.
19 Comments
Not much of a story, is it.
Sorry ‘bout that.
Now if Geena Davis were black, The AV Club would be calling for the cancelation of George Clooney for taking shine away from Ms. Davis’ “Landmark Moment”.
Say what?
Extra! Extra! Person feels emotion thirty years ago! Read all about it!
…and yet…I feel…nothing…
I don’t think Geena Davis was being too polite. What does that mean? Everyone else was being impolite.
It seems to be the thesis of her book.
Lol. After I moved to Canada from the US, people back home would always ask if Canadians really are all nice and polite. I began to respond it’s not that Canadians are nicer, it’s that Americans are bigger assholes.
“It’s not that Canadians are nicer, it’s that Americans are bigger assholes.”
There are other examples in the book that are more heavy hitting. She goes into a lot of detail about doing things in auditions or on sets where she wanted to speak up but didn’t want to be seen as “difficult.” This is definitely a more straightforward anecdote.
That’s ok, Georgie, you get to play the handsome Gym Jordan of Ohio!
“One went to Meryl Streep, alongside a ‘bunch of CDs’ from a dialect coach”Wow, that was shitty. And he bragged about it? How was saying something to Meryl Streep that was mean and designed to make her feel bad a prank on Brad Pitt?
A great many of us have made jokes/pranks in our younger years that, in retrospect, were quite mean spirited.
I mean…okay, but he was bragging about the prank at least 5 years after he did it (and he was an adult already when he did it), and he was still laughing about it and using it for applause as of this very month and he’s 61 years old. So. What’s your point again? Do you still think the mean-spirited things you did in your “younger years” were awesome and something to brag about? Is that what you’re telling me?
Arguably, he was trying to make Brad Pitt look bad. Meryl obviously knows it was a joke now since he says she’s the one who said he avoided her five years. They’re both known for playing these sorts of pranks, but most usually find out about it one way or another.
Well yeah, he was *trying* to make Brad Pitt look bad, and his method of trying to make Brad Pitt look bad was to insult Meryl Streep pretty much to her face. If I walk up to you and say hey Lindsay, [person we both know] told me he thinks you’re so ugly and annoying. That makes [person we both know] look bad, but it also is insulting to you, so you were collateral damage in my quest to play a joke on my friend. That was mean of me to hurt your feelings for my amusement.Meryl knows it was a joke *now*. She didn’t know it was a joke then or for years afterwards. And he said Meryl avoided Brad Pitt for five years, not that he avoided her for five years.
Do you really think Meryl Streep isn’t aware that she’s the queen of dialects? She herself has made jokes about it. If anything, it made Brad Pitt look like an idiot. I think you’re overestimating the cruelty. It would e more akin to me being like “Electricsheep is known for being good at x thing. Let me pretend I know more about it.”The he was a typo. I knew it was Meryl. But avoiding someone can be for multiple reasons. Not because you thought they were mean. Again, to me it reads more that Brad Pitt is dumb (though seeing the actual letter might make a difference).
I have no idea what Meryl Streep is aware of, nor do I think that’s relevant? Even if I know I’m great at something, it doesn’t mean I like someone telling me I’m shitty at it. And it clearly did hurt her feelings or make her mad since she avoided Brad Pitt because of it, and the implication in the statement was that she avoided him because of it. You can imagine other reasons if you want to, but apparently she didn’t start avoiding him until after this thing happened. My point is regardless of how it made Brad Pitt look, it was a mean thing to say to someone. If I’m saying something mean to person X just to make you look like an idiot, person X is collateral damage.
I think Brad Pitt is a gross sleazeball, and as such, was the perfect person to play the gross sleazeball in Thelma and Louise. Honestly, I don’t think George Clooney would have been sleazy enough to carry the role.