by Becky Aikman
“That Brad Pitt”: This quote and subsequent anecdote: author interview with Davis, 7/21/14.
CHAPTER 17: THE GIRLS IN THE THUNDERBIRD
“I’ll do whatever it takes”: Author interview with Geena Davis, 2/25/15.
“It was a huge deal”: Ibid.
We don’t need the lantern: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“Thelma’s not silly”: Author interview with Davis, 2/25/15.
Careful, careful: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“You know when somebody is going”: Author interview with Susan Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“It was a good mix”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“The fact that Ridley and Norris”: Author interview with Michael Hirabayashi, 11/18/14.
“Get rid of the damn smoke”: Author interview with Harvey Keitel, 3/6/15.
“It’s hard to find somebody”: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
“We don’t do anything”: Author interview with Anne Ahrens, 11/6/14.
“The denser the look”: Ibid.
“We wanted to show chaos”: Ibid.
“The magic goes through”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“She probably goes over it”: Ibid.
I left him a note: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
CHAPTER 18: HOT AS A PISTOL
“Just so we’d get the taste”: Author interview with Geena Davis, 7/21/14.
You said you and me: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
There they are: Author interview with Callie Khouri, 2/5/15.
“It was also so weird”: Ibid.
“We had a lot of opportunities”: Author interview with Michael Hirabayashi, 11/18/14.
“We were going for”: Author interview with Anne Ahrens, 11/6/14.
It’s a good thing: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“The opportunities were entirely”: Author interview with Lucinda Jenney, 11/12/14.
“It’s a tough name”: Ibid.
“At the time, I didn’t have”: Ibid.
“a Janus-faced guy”: Author interview with Brett Goldstein, 6/25/15.
“I’m not sure you’re threatening enough”: Author interview with Timothy Carhart, 10/27/14.
“It’s a Ridley Scott movie”: Ibid.
“It’s very easy to drop the ball”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003
“We need to go quite a way”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“Geena has the most insane”: Author interview with Carhart, 10/27/14.
“Grueling, just grueling”: Ibid.
“Doing it was upsetting”: Author interview with Davis, 2/25/15.
“What bothers me is”: Author interview with Susan Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“She points her finger”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“She’s just trying”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“I have to run to the car”: Betsy Sharkey, “Film: Ridley Scott Tries to Make It Personal,” New York Times, November 18, 1990.
CHAPTER 19: BAD BOYS
I want you out of here by five: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“That’s the funniest thing”: Author interview with Chris McDonald, 8/19/14.
“Thelma’s life was out of her control”: Author interview with Anne Ahrens, 11/6/14.
“That’s how I saw”: Ibid.
Funny how so many people: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“He was on the make”: Author interview with McDonald, 8/19/14.
“because that makes a lion”: Ibid.
“I kept falling off the dolly”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Theima & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“He’d say, ‘I love what’”: Author interview with McDonald, 10/28/14.
“So often you”: Ibid.
Excuse me, you’re standing: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“Chris’s performance”: Author interview with Stephen Tobolowsky, 10/20/14.
“It is a business”: Ibid.
“I don’t think it’s bad”: Ibid.
“I just thought that was horseshit”: Ibid.
“So how do you see yourself”: Ibid.
“He didn’t seem to be”: Ibid.
This is an ugly kitchen: Ibid.
“I tried to use my frustration”: Ibid.
“What are you going to do”: Ibid.
“You read a line in a script”: Ibid.
“Steve talks in the film”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
CHAPTER 20: THE KID ENTERS THE PICTURE
“If you run after him,”: Subsequent anecdote also from author interview with Lucinda Jenney, 11/12/14.
That’s good: Author interview with Callie Khouri, 2/5/15.
“Nobody knew him”: Author interview with Michael Madsen, 11/11/14.
“Would you like to sit”: Author interview with Stephen Tobolowsky, 10/20/14.
“I never felt so old and ugly”: Stephen Tobolowsky in The Last Journey, documentary by Charles de Lauzirika, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios video, 2002.
“I dealt with staying focused”: Sheila Weller, “The Ride of a Lifetime,” Vanity Fair, February 10, 2012.
“not necessarily a show”: Production memo, May 1, 1990, from the files of assistant director Steve Danton.
“By the end of the day”: Weller, Vanity Fair.
I like your wife: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“I was vicious”: Author interview with Chris McDonald, 10/28/14.
“He was too strong”: Author interview with Harvey Keitel, 3/6/15.
“He’s got great taste”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“What are you going”: Subsequent anecdote also from author interview with Michael Madsen, 11/11/14.
“Ridley was generous”: Author interview with Tobolowsky, 10/20/14.
“Ridley’s a really masculine guy”: Author interview with Madsen, 11/11/14.
CHAPTER 21: WHAT THE FUSS IS ABOUT
“But it’s just easier to show”: Richard Panek, “Some Films Need a Hand, a Hip . . .” New York Times, January 19, 1992.
“Very nice”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“Goddammit, nobody’s”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“Oh my God, this is going”: Geena Davis in The Last Journey, documentary by Charles de Lauzirika, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios video, 2002.
“J.D. turns out the light”: Final shooting script, Thelma & Louise, June 5, 1990, from the collection of Michael Hirabayashi.
“You go ahead”: Susan Sarandon, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“Lovemaking scenes are always”: Author interview with Steve Danton, 1/13/15.
“It’s a long day”: “I didn’t plan to be a star!” Big, July 8, 1991.
“I’m sweating”: Brad Pitt in The Last Journey.
“One of the dilemmas”: Ibid.
“but I flatlined”: Sheila Weller, “The Ride of a Lifetime,” Vanity Fair, February 10, 2012.
“Muss his hair”: Ibid.; Geena Davis, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
Ridley, hello: Author interview with Geena Davis, 2/25/15.
“No, she looked pretty”: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
“What’s going on”: Author interview with Susan Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“It was truly the most incredible”: Author interview with Hans Zimmer, 11/17/14.
“I do’s”: Callie Khouri, Thelma and Louise
, First Draft, September 1988, Ridley Scott Collection, USC Cinematic Arts Library.
“They kind of agree”: Callie Khouri, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“It’s too much of a leap”: In this scene, the lines spoken by Sarandon, Madsen and Scott all derive from author interviews with each.
Will you wear this: Final shooting script, Thelma & Louise.
Why? Why now?: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
You didn’t see that one comin’, did ya: Ibid.
“I thought it was a mistake”: Author interview with Callie Khouri, 2/5/15.
Chalk it up to bad timing: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott.
“She was particularly brilliant”: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
“a nice little scene-scene”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
I finally understand what all the fuss is about: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott.
Move!: Ibid.
“If you can’t get to that”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“A lot of people were saying”: Author interview with Michael Madsen, 11/11/14.
CHAPTER 22: OWNING THE ROAD
“We’re in a Ridley Scott movie”: Author interviews with Geena Davis, 2/25/15, and Susan Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“The experience was”: Author interview with Sarandon, 9/29/14.
“The joke was”: Ibid.
“He brought that to it:” Ibid.
“Or now there’s a cattle drive”: Craig Seligman, “Settling for Sarandon,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 1991.
“We were shouting”: Ibid.
“Every scene was a bloody”: Ibid.
“All those watering machines”: Ridley Scott in The Last Journey, documentary by Charles de Lauzirika, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios video, 2002.
Darryl. Go fuck yourself: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“These gigantic trucks covered”: Author interview with Anne Ahrens, 11/6/14.
“That’s all just part”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“When the script said”: Author interview with Sarandon, 9/29/14.
Goddammit, Thelma: Thelma & Louise.” Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“It was the only experience”: Author interview with Davis, 2/21/14.
If you blow: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“This afternoon”: This quote and subsequent anecdote until Sarandon speaks: author interview with Davis, 7/21/14.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake”: Rod Lurie, “Susan Sarandon: Sex, Drugs and Her New Role,” Manhattan Spirit, May 28, 1991.
“Then that’s exploitation”: Ibid.
“Ridley, Geena is not”: Author interview with Davis, 7/21/14.
“As it turned out”: Ibid.
“Yeah, fine”: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
“Thanks a lot”: Lurie, Manhattan Spirit.
“I wanted people to like”: Author interview with Davis, 7/21/14.
“I hadn’t really”: Author interview with Sarandon, 9/29/14.
“Isn’t it fun with girls”: Author interview with Davis, 7/21/14.
“Look, she’s more diplomatic”: Lurie, Manhattan Spirit.
“Ridley pretty much listened”: Author interview with Sarandon.
Back then, women: Estimate from author interview with Stephen Follows of Stephen Follows Film Data and Education, 1/28/16.
“Thelma & Louise had a different”: Author interview with Ahrens, 11/6/14.
“Thelma & Louise was the opposite”: Author interview with Ken Turek, 11/18/14.
“They were almost insulted”: Ibid.
“She must be on the”: Ibid.
“The female set”: Ibid.
“Gentlemen”: Author interview with Candace Allen, 1/17/15.
Kathy Nelson resolved: Author interview with Kathy Nelson, 1/21/15.
“guy banter and gags”: Author interview with Ahrens, 11/6/14.
Geena without a top on: Thelma & Louise storyboards, from the collection of Michael Hirabayashi.
“I don’t think the guys”: Author interview with Steve Danton, 1/13/15.
“I don’t think he”: Author interview with Tracy DeFreitus, 11/15/14.
“He was mischievous”: Author interview with Jason Beghe, 5/7/15.
“Ridley is pretty interesting”: Seligman, San Francisco Chronicle.
“Part of what made”: Author interview with Hans Zimmer, 11/17/14.
Was this all too good: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
CHAPTER 23: SOMETHING’S CROSSED OVER
“dining is poor to fair”: Thelma & Louise production memo, June 25, 1990, property of Michael Hirabayashi.
“This gave him some humanity”: Author interview with Chris McDonald, 10/28/14.
I don’t remember ever feelin’: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“I knew I was”: Author interview with Susan Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“You gotta get me”: Author interview with Ken Haber, 10/20/14.
“We’ve been in the car”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“Actors offer suggestions”: Ibid.
Something’s crossed over: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“I actually cried when”: Author interview with Thom Noble, 5/13/15.
The police radio, Louise: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“I have a different take”: Author interview with Jason Beghe, 5/7/15.
“I looked rigid and vain”: Ibid.
Ma’am, please: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“I suppose today”: Author interview with Beghe, 5/7/15.
“Once I’ve chosen a script”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“I don’t think you can”: Author interview with Callie Khouri, 5/12/15.
“I think she proved a certain”: Author interview with Diane Cairns, 1/30/15.
“I think it’s the perfect”: Author interview with Scott, 4/2/15.
“Yeah, but they’ll hate it”: Ibid.
“We spent a couple hours”: Author interview with Greg Foster, 3/24/15.
“Your traditional young”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 24: READY, STEADY, BLOW
Harlan’s hands hike up: Notes of Luca Kouimelis, script supervisor, 1/15/15.
“They didn’t tell me”: Author interview with Timothy Carhart, 10/27/14.
“I won’t get a date”: Author interview with Marco St. John, 6/19/15.
“Try five”: Ibid.
“I think Ridley did”: Author interview with Susan Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“I was mortified”: Author interview with St. John, 6/19/15.
“My wife was very courageous”: Ibid.
Hey baby: Ibid.
“I thought he pulled it off”: Ridley Scott in The Last Journey, documentary by Charles de Lauzirika, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios video, 2002.
“I know guys”: Author interview with St. John, 6/19/15.
“Yes, there is something clownish”: Author interview with Brett Goldstein, 6/25/15.
“like there was a glass case”: Author interview with St. John, 6/19/15.
“He was a caricature”: Author interview with Callie Khouri, 8/12/14.
“howl at the top”: Final shooting script, Thelma & Louise, June 5, 1990, from the collection of Michael Hirabayashi.
“I wanted to be somber”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
We think you have really bad manners: Final shooting script, Thelma & Louise.
How would you feel: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
Huh? What are you: Ibid.
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“It’s not threatening”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“You don’t have to”: Author interview with St. John, 6/19/15.
“Um, you’ve cleared everybody”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“It’s not safe”: Ibid.
“Well, get stunt people”: Author interview with Geena Davis, 7/21/14.
“It had to go before”: Author interview with Ridley Scott, 5/4/15.
“What the hell was that”: Author interview with Davis, 7/21/14.
“It was a giant explosion”: Author interview with Greg Foster, 5/1/15.
“It was like an”: Author interview with Mimi Polk Gitlin, 7/22/14.
“It was something”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“Oh, you’re one”: Author interview with Jason Beghe, 5/7/15.
“I’ll interact to a point”: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
“Because this was a women’s film”: Crew member, off the record.
“I’m always like that”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“Sometimes I would”: Rod Lurie, “Susan Sarandon: Sex, Drugs and Her New Role,” Manhattan Spirit, May 28, 1991.
“I don’t remember it that way”: Author interview with Sarandon, 10/30/15.
“Susan Sarandon is like”: Author interview with Ken Turek, 11/18/14.
“I didn’t notice her”: Author interview with Michael Madsen, 11/11/14.
“With two very collaborative”: Betsy Sharkey, “Film: Ridley Scott Tries to Make It Personal,” New York Times, November 18, 1990.
“I listened, yeah”: Author interview with Scott, 5/4/15.
“The only way”: Richard Guilliatt, “Queen Bee,” Sunday Times (London), July 6, 1991.
“Susan saved the picture”: Author interview with Khouri, 5/12/15.
CHAPTER 25: OFF THE CLIFF
“Stop,” Ridley ordered: Author interview with Anne Ahrens, 11/6/14.
I guess I went a little crazy, huh: Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott, 1991.
“I wanted to be there with them”: Ridley Scott, Audio Commentary, Thelma & Louise, DVD, MGM, 2003.
“It was sick how much”: Author interview with Steve Danton, 1/13/15.
“It was physically taxing”: Author interview with Stephen Tobolowsky, 10/20/14.