Brad Pitt Caught His Big Break When a Woman Chose Him over George Clooney

• Hollywood icon Brad Pitt praises Geena Davis for changing the course of his career.
• Years ago, when the two co-starred in "Thelma & Louise," Davis revealed that Pitt had been chosen over legendary actor George Clooney for his role in the film.
• Pitt once described Davis as "incredibly disarming and playful."

Brad Pitt is well-known for his incredible talents and as one of Hollywood's most successful actors. In addition to his charming personality and dashing good looks, Pitt is recognized as an amazing film producer.

Although Pitt skyrocketed to a profound level of fame soon after he was discovered in Tinseltown, his journey to stardom started from humble beginnings. While speaking of his life before fame, the star, who grew up in Missouri, Oklahoma, explained that he had always had a distinctive passion and love for movies.

When he was younger, his parents would take him and his siblings to drive-ins on summer nights, where they would perch on the car's hood and watch film productions. The young budding talent became wholly engrossed in the art of storytelling through the medium of the silver screen.

For Pitt, acting became a space where he felt his voice could be heard and an artistic source where he could find understanding. As diverse as each film story is, Pitt also says there is a sense of camaraderie, which ultimately reminds all that they are more the same than different.

His quaint and contained environment fostered his love of the arts by seeing how expansive the world around him was. Years after childhood, Pitt worked odd jobs to cover his living expenses before starting as an extra in productions.

In a previous interview that the "Fight Club" star sat down for, he revealed that at one point, he worked as the mascot chicken for El Pollo Loco. He described having to wave a sign trying to attract customers to eat at the grand opening of one of the restaurant chain's locations.

Another job he took on while trying to make it big was as the driver and overseer for women hired as entertainment for bachelor parties. According to Pitt:

"...I basically had to, you know, get in there, get 'em back, play the music, catch their clothes so the guys didn't steal 'em, get the money, and out..."

After working that job for three months, he decided to quit. He dialed his boss to tell him he would be leaving, but the boss pleaded with him to work one more night. Pitt agreed, and that night, he met one of the new girls working the event who was dating an actor.

Following a conversation with the woman who told him she had joined an acting class, Pitt asked for the number of the company. One thing led to another, and through that encounter, Pitt had garnered his start in establishing connections within the entertainment industry.

Brad Pitt Scored His Big Break and Praises Geena Davis for Changing the Course of His Career

By the time Pitt was just getting started in Hollywood, only having worked as an extra in a few productions, casting for the popular classic "Thelma & Louise" was underway. The main roles of the titular characters had been cast: Geena Davis, 67, as Thelma and Susan Sarandon, 76, as Louise. However, the film's director, Ridley Scott, had one more male role to cast.

Scott had his heart initially set on Billy Baldwin to play the charming and cunning character, J.D., who seduces Thelma so he can steal from her. Although Scott had cast Baldwin, Pitt expressed a keen interest in the part after resonating so well with the script.

In fact, before Baldwin scored the role at first, Pitt had auditioned as one of four actors trying out for the role. Baldwin won the part but then dropped out after a delay in filming and went on to star in another film.

After Baldwin dropped out, Pitt auditioned again, but his efforts were thwarted for a second time. However, after auditioning for the third and final time, this time doing a read with Davis, the part went to him.

During one of her interviews, Davis opened up about those auditions and mentioned that she kept getting distracted by Pitt's talent and his devastatingly good looks. She worried she was messing up Pitt's audition, but the charming actor reassured her she wasn't and said:

"The read was a delight. Geena was incredibly disarming and playful as an actor."

Interestingly, when Pitt was still competing with other actors for the role of J.D., Davis was instrumental in helping him get the part. After all the men had auditioned, Davis noted that no one on the casting panel mentioned Pitt's audition, so she spoke up. She recalled:

"...I didn't know if they wanted my opinion or not, but I said, 'Would you be interested in knowing what my reaction was?' And they were, 'Oh yeah, please!' I was like, 'The blonde one!' "

Unbeknownst to Davis then, the other three men she overlooked in favor of Pitt were all famous actors. One of which, most notably, was George Clooney, who, years later, jokingly said he was still upset about not being chosen. However, he expressed being ultimately happy that the role went to Pitt, who he said did a good job.

The cast also shared Clooney's sentiment about Pitt bringing an unmatched performance to the production. Scott boasted about how he knew Pitt had star quality when he directed the intimate scene between him and Davis.

At one point, Davis and Pitt's relationship allegedly turned romantic after production on "Thelma & Louise" wrapped.

Being the modest and humble man he is, Pitt credited his ability to perform so well in the film to Davis. According to him:

"It was Geena's performance that made mine. Her ability to be carefree and comfortable in each take led the way for me."

Even years after the film was released, Pitt continues to thank Davis and Scott for helping him score his entry into the big leagues with "Thelma & Louise." In an interview a month ago, Pitt, yet again, acknowledged Davis for being one of the people who changed the course of his career:

"...But my big one was Ridley Scott and Geena—Geena Davis, giving me a shot in "Thelma & Louise," that pretty much opened the door..."

Similarly, he mentioned Davis when recalling the productions that greatly impacted his success as an actor. Pitt stated:

"...Certainly it was Ridley and Geena bringing me into 'Thelma & Louise,' that was kind of my first shot in the big leagues, as I call it."

Geena Davis' Sweet Words about Brad Pitt and Some Details about Her Love Life

Speaking of big leagues, when Pitt won an Oscar in 2020, his speech credited the instrumental figures that had a huge hand in where he is seated today, one of which was Davis. Similar to how Pitt, to this day, still thanks Davis as one of the people who essentially gave him his start in Hollywood, Davis has acknowledged Pitt as a formidable talent in the industry. Recently, while speaking about the "Bullet Train" star, Davis reiterated:

"He just has 'it.' I could tell when he was auditioning that he was super talented. He has done so many incredible things over the years...He really is the 'star' of the moment, which is fabulous, and it is just great to see."

At one point, Davis and Pitt's relationship allegedly turned romantic after production on "Thelma & Louise" wrapped. According to a source, Pitt and Davis dated secretly, and Pitt would sneak away occasionally to visit her during their courtship.

After her brief secret romance with Pitt, the accomplished actress went on to date and marry a series of famous men. Her first marriage with a restauranteur named Richard Emmolo lasted from 1981 to 1984.

By the time 1987 rolled around, Davis married fellow actor Jeff Goldblum until she filed for divorce in 1990. Her third marriage to a Finnish film producer, Renny Harlin, lasted from 1993 to 1998.

Davis' last and potentially longest-standing relationship was with Reza Jarrahy, a craniofacial plastic surgeon. After the two married, they welcomed three children together before Jarrahy filed for divorce in 2018. They settled their divorce in 2021 after a custody battle and allegations that the two had never been officially married in the first place.

Pitt, to this day, remains thankful to Davis for changing the course of his career.

The legendary icon has come a long way since working as a restaurant mascot and an adult entertainment chauffeur.