Susan Sarandon And Geena Davis Look Back And Celebrate 30th Anniversary Of 'Thelma & Louise'

Jun 23, 2021 by apost team

The hit 1991 film "Thelma and Louise" is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the two stars of the movie, Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, reunited to talk about the film and reminisce. The movie is about two friends who embark on a road trip and end up with more than they bargained for. The supporting cast includes Brad Pitt in one of his first major film roles.

Sarandon and Davis met up on June 18, 2021 to look back at their memories of making the film together. The event was for a Cinespia charity and took place at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Also in attendance was the original 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible that was used in the film. The car is in excellent condition and looks just as good as it did in the 90s.

The two actresses couldn't have been happier to be at the event and even wore coordinating outfits. Sarandon wore a shirt reading, "She's My Thelma & I'm Her Louise" while Davis' said "I'm Her Thelma & She's My Louise." Even though the film was released 30 years ago, it has had a lasting impact on both of their careers as well as the film's writer, Callie Khouri.

Sarandon, Davis and Khouri spent the evening of the event out in Griffith park taking time to talk about the film and its reception from the public since its release. They had a public Q&A prior to a screening of "Thelma and Louise." The actresses reminisced on their favorite moments from shooting the film, including the famous driving sequences in the classic convertible.

Davis predicted the way the film would affect the film industry after it's release 30 years ago. "There are going to be so many movies starring women, about women, female road pictures, whatever," she recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. The actress was right to some degree, "Thelma and Louise" had an impact on what audiences could expect from women in movies.

However, Davis thinks there's still room for improvement. She continued, "I'm thinking, hot dog, let's sit back and wait for all this magic change to happen. We're still waiting. It really did not happen. It seems like every five years or so, there's another movie starring women that's a huge hit and people say, 'Well now certainly everything is going to change,' and it really hasn't."

When asked what it was like filming the iconic driving sequences from the movie Sarandon responded, "It was really fun, especially in the desert. What I learned is that you do your best acting when you're really just trying to drive a car and you're not thinking about anything and getting the shots lined up. I was driving pretty fast by the time we finished the movie."

Davis told The Hollywood Reporter the film changed what scripts she chose in the future. She said, "It made me realize how few opportunities we give women to come out of a movie feeling empowered by the female characters. It made me really think about what women in the audience are going to think about my character from now on and led me to want to play parts where I could feel good about the choices the character makes. I turned down parts based on that thinking for sure."

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Sarandon mentioned in the same interview what her expectations were for the film's reception. "You saw 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?' I thought this was a cowboy (movie) with women and trucks and it's going to be a lot of fun, Ridley (Scott) is a great director and it's a fun script," she recalled.

It turned out there was much more backlash to the female led film that originally anticipated. Sarandon continued, "I completely underestimated that we were backing into territory held by white heterosexual males. They got offended and accused us of glorifying murder and suicide and all kinds of things." These accusations are a bit of a stretch, and seem like an attempt to find faults in the film where they don't exist.

What Saradon and Davis thought would be a breath of fresh air for the public, was met with a tirade from male audiences and critics alike. "It didn't seem like a big deal, it seemed like it was unusual that there would be a woman that you could be friends with in a film. Normally, if there were two women in a film, you automatically hated each other for some reason. … Next thing we knew, all hell broke loose." 

Despite the difficulties brought on by closed minded individuals, the women-centered action film set the precedent for more movies to feature women as more than just supporting characters or romantic interests. Sarandon and Davis became role models for young girls and hopefully we can see more films like this being made in the future.

Are you a fan of the film "Thelma and Louise"? Do you think it deserved the harsh criticisms it received? Let us know your opinion and be sure to send this on to your loved ones.