Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon at 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 17, 2024.Photo:Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
It’s aThelma & Louisereunion!
Susan SarandonandGeena Daviscame together this weekend during90s Con 2024in Hartford, Connecticut to speak about the enduring legacy of their 1991 film.
Thelma & Louisefeatures a supporting cast ofHarvey Keitel,Michael Madsen,Christopher McDonaldand more, includingBrad Pittin what is widely considered his breakout film role.
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Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis inThelma & Louise(1991).MGM/Pathe/Kobal/Shutterstock
MGM/Pathe/Kobal/Shutterstock
Davis said up untilThelma & Louisepremiered and blew up in popularity, she “knew what to expect” when fans would come up to her after her roles inBeetlejuiceandThe Fly.
“But then after that movie came out, it was completely different in that people wanted to talk to me about it and how many times they saw it or who they saw it with and how it impacted them,” the actress recalled.
Thelma & Louisewas up for fiveAcademy Awardsin 1992, including Best Director for Scott, 86, and Best Actress for both Sarandon and Davis (Jodie Fostertook home the latter trophy that year, for her performance inSilence of the Lambs).Thelma & Louisescreenwriter Callie Khouri won in the category of Best Original Screenplay.
“It was pretty unusual both of us were nominated for an actor, because usually somebody goes into supporting, because it is an easier category to win it, too,” Sarandon said Sunday at 90s Con. “They say that, which I didn’t realize at the time, but the fact that both of us were nominated all along, every place that we were nominated, that was really cool.”
Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 3, 2024.Gerardo Mora/Getty
Gerardo Mora/Getty
Davis also said she “had never met” Sarandon beforethey didThelma & Louisetogether, but she “was so excited that we were going to be working together.”
“And we did,” Sarandon said, of their two-on-one meeting with Scott.
“And I look at Ridley and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, whatever.’ And through the whole thing, they’re just talking through a little. And I was like, ‘How have I gotten to this point in my life and I neverspent time with a womanwho doesn’t apologize for what she says?’ " Davis continued.
She added, “Right then, I knew I was in a whole different world, and it changed my life.”
After headlining some of the most progressively female-centric films of all-time, includingThelma & LouiseandA League of Their Own,Davis founded theGeena Davis Institute on Gender In Mediain 2004 to champion real-world-reflective gender balance in the media — as well as for minorities and other underrepresented groups. Davis won an honorary Oscar in 2019 for her work fighting for gender-parity in media.
“My simplest advice to creators is: whatever you’re already going to make, before you cast it and before you shoot it, just go through it and see if there’s any characters that can become female — or any type of diversity — and change the first name,” she previously told PEOPLE.
“That’s a fabulous way to make it gender-balanced,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re having so many more female characters now.”
source: people.com