The road to Hollywood stardom is paved with grueling auditions, rejections, and unforeseen twists, and few actors know this better than two-time Academy Award winner, George Clooney. Before his meteoritic rise to fame on the long-running NBC medical drama, ER, Clooney was just another struggling actor, trapped in the realm of obscure TV shows.
As unbelievable as it may sound, the actor’s breakthrough didn’t come easy, as he faced countless rejections, despite attending numerous casting calls. One especially tough loss was the role of sexy hitchhiker J.D in the 1991 female-buddy comedy, Thelma & Louise, which the acclaimed actor auditioned for a staggering five times, but was still passed over for Brad Pitt. So, how does Clooney feel about being supplanted by Pitt for the role decades later?
George Clooney Auditioned Five Times To Play J.D In Thelma And Louise
George Clooney is arguably one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood, having risen to the fame as Dr. Doug Ross in the Award-winning medical drama, ER. However, before the acclaimed actor attained the status of Hollywood icon, landing roles in Tinseltown was not exactly a walk in the park. One tale that perfectly encapsulates the two-time Academy Award winner’s pre-fame struggles is his relentless pursuit of the role of J.D in Thelma & Louise.
Driven by a burning desire to make his mark in Hollywood, Clooney delivered a staggering five auditions for the role. However, despite his best efforts, the role ultimately went to Brad Pitt; an outcome that didn’t sit well with Clooney for many years. As Geena Davis, who portrayed Thelma in the 1991 film, would later reveal, Pitt’s audition was so spectacular that she completely forgot that Clooney ever auditioned for the role.
"I was sitting on a plane next to George Clooney a couple of years ago,” Davis told Access Hollywood in 2015. “He says, 'I'm still mad at Brad Pitt.' I said, 'Why, I thought he was like your great friend.' He says, 'He got the part in Thelma & Louise.' I said, 'Did you want to be that part?'... He was one of the other guys that read with me! I should never have just admitted I forgot George Clooney."
Why George Clooney Ended Up Losing The Role Of J.D To Brad Pitt
Given George Clooney’s undeniable acting chops, it’s hard to imagine him getting passed over for a role. So, how exactly did the two-time Academy Award winner end up delivering an astounding five forgettable auditions? As it turns out, it was Brad Pitt’s exquisite charm and jaw-dropping good looks that swayed the scales in his favor. In fact, Geena Davis, who did chemistry reads with all the five finalists for the role, admitted to being so awestruck by Pitt’s astonishing good looks and charisma that she fumbled through her lines.
“Each of them were very handsome,” Davis revealed during her 2022 appearance on The Graham Norton Show. “They all had brown hair and were very talented. I didn’t care who it was going to be. Then the fourth one comes in, and it’s Brad Pitt. He’s so charismatic and so incredibly talented that I was screwing up his audition.”
Following the spectacular audition, Davis had no doubt that Pitt would be the perfect vessel for the enigmatic J.D. "I was like, get the blonde guy," she recalled. Admittedly, Pitt’s portrayal of the sexy convicted robber was nothing short of spectacular. The acclaimed actor’s performance even earned him a glowing review from Susan Sarandon, who portrayed the titular character, Thelma, in the film.
“When I saw the film, the part that really impressed me, in addition to his good looks and great body, was his sense of humor because he really fleshed that part out in a way that wasn't necessarily in the script. "I thought, 'Ah, this guy's interesting, you know, he's not just a really gorgeous face,’” she told Extra in 2021. "He took it as a character part and as we can see from his career, he really continued to push the envelope in ways that he really didn't have to when you look like that."
George Clooney Couldn’t Bring Himself To Watch Brad Pitt In Thelma & Louise
To further compound Clooney’s misery, J.D proved to be a career-defining role for Brad Pitt, setting him up for Award-winning roles in films like Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Legends of the Fall, and 12 Monkeys. Still languishing in obscure TV shows, Clooney couldn’t bring himself to watch Thelma & Louise, presumably because Pitt’s performance would’ve been a bittersweet reminder of what could’ve been his breakthrough moment.
“The funniest thing is, I didn’t watch that movie for a long time,” the actor-director revealed during a lighthearted Q&A at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival. “I was really stuck doing a lot of bad TV at that time. And I had auditioned and auditioned, and it got right down to Brad and I, and he got it. And I just couldn’t watch that movie for a couple of years.”
However, when the acclaimed actor finally mustered the courage to watch the film, he, like many others, discovered that Pitt's portrayal of J.D was nothing short of extraordinary, confirming that the casting decision, though truly heartbreaking, had been spot-on. “When I saw it, I thought actually that was the right choice,” he said. “He was really good in it, and I would have f—ed it up somehow.”
The humbling moment of clarity even taught Clooney an important lesson on elusive movie roles. “There were films I’d love to have been a part of, but when you see the actors that did them, you think, oh that makes total sense,” he said. “You find that you end up getting the films that you were supposed to. You can’t really panic over the other ones.”
