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What do actresses Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn have in common?
They were all considered for the roles of Thelma or Louise in the now classic film released 20 years ago this May.
Bruce Willis' notorious bomb "Hudson Hawk" actually out-earned it for third place. But the word of mouth on the movie was so strong that "Thelma" became a sleeper hit,
earning over $45 million in the U.S., about three times its budget.
And it was a critical favorite, earning six Oscar nominations and winning the award for Best Original Screenplay.
Geena Davis gives us some insights into how she and Sarandon were able to stay cool during the roadhouse scene.
“We asked the prop guy, ‘Do you have any real tequila? Because it’s easier to act if we taste alcohol,” she says.
“So we pounded back quite a few, and we’re laughing between takes and both feeling, We’re so drunk! This is great!”
"Thelma & Louise" is one of those rare films that didn't just bring people into a movie theater, but kept them talking after it was over.
Its story of average women who become fugitives sparked nationwide discussions about the changing nature of feminism in the new decade of the 1990s.
Mostly, though, the film sparked debate with its ending. Cornered by the police at the rim of the Grand Canyon, Thelma (Geena Davis) tells Louise (Susan Sarandon) "Let's not get caught; let's keep going."
Louise hits the gas, the women hold hands, and their 1966 Thunderbird convertible goes sailing off a cliff. The picture freezes with the car in midair and then fades to white.
It's an iconic moment, but it's not how the movie was originally going to end.
You don't actually see the car crash; it just drops out of sight. Afterwards, Hal (Harvey Keitel),
the sympathetic detective who has been chasing the pair, runs to the edge of the canyon and stares down. A helicopter swoops down into the ravine, and Hal turns back to rejoin the massive police force waiting there.
Director Ridley Scott provides commentary on why he changed the ending from what he shot.
He said that giving the final moment to Harvey Keitel's character instead of Thelma and Louise, "eclipsed what their decision was...
I wanted the ending to be on them."
He also thought it was important to hold on the car in the air, rather than watch it fall. He said, "I didn't want to bring [the ending] down. I wanted to go out on the high of the car, in control."
And now, you see how the ending of your tale can make or break its dramatic impact.
You see? I did have a writing reason to wax nostalgic about the 20 year anniversary of THELMA & LOUISE.
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