George Clooney is opening up about the Hollywood near-miss that stuck with him for decades — losing a star-making role to Brad Pitt.
According to Fox News, during a recent interview with The Times, the 64-year-old actor revealed he once came close to landing the part of J.D., the charming drifter and thief who seduces Geena Davis’ character in the 1991 classic Thelma & Louise.
That role ultimately went to Pitt, launching him into instant stardom.
“I got to the final test for a role in ‘Thelma & Louise.’ And, motherf—–, Brad got it,” Clooney said.
At the time, Clooney was still known mostly for television roles, while Pitt — then just on the cusp of breaking out — used J.D. as the springboard that made him a household name.
In the film, Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) cross paths with J.D. at a roadside motel as they flee the scene of a crime. Thelma, stuck in an unhappy marriage, is drawn to him — only to be betrayed in a way that accelerates the movie’s dramatic turn.
After the film’s success, Pitt became one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising stars. Clooney, meanwhile, wouldn’t get his own breakout until several years later, when he joined ER as Dr. Doug Ross.
Clooney admitted he harbored resentment for years.
“I was in TV,” he said. “I was making a good living, but back then actors would say, ‘Well, I’m a film actor — I just happen to be doing TV.’”
“I didn’t watch ‘Thelma & Louise’ for years, because I was annoyed,” he added. “The part launched his career in film. He was doing sitcoms and crap before, so when it was the thing that could’ve launched me? F—!!”
Despite that frustration, Clooney said he and Pitt eventually became close friends — and even frequent co-stars. They teamed up for Ocean’s Eleven and its sequels, Burn After Reading, and their 2024 film Wolfs. Pitt still teases him about the role he lost.
“Oh yeah, he gives me s—,” Clooney said. “Of course, when I saw it, I was, like, well, it ‘had’ to be that guy.”
Adam Sandler, who joined Clooney for the interview as his co-star in the upcoming film Jay Kelly, said audiences made it clear in 1991 why Pitt became the pick.
“I saw that at the cinema and when Brad took his shirt off people went nuts,” Sandler said. “But it should have been you, Clooney.”
Geena Davis has also reflected on the casting process. In a 2022 interview, she recalled reading with the four finalists — Clooney, Mark Ruffalo, Grant Show and Pitt. Pitt stood out immediately.
“He’s so charismatic and so incredibly talented that I was screwing up his audition because I forgot to say my line,” Davis said. She later told producers her choice: “The blonde one!”
Davis joked that she didn’t remember Clooney from that day at all — something Clooney once teased her about on a flight years later.
Brad Pitt has said the role nearly slipped through his fingers multiple times, explaining in a 2023 interview that he believed he lost the part twice before it came back again.
“I feel like it was three times,” Pitt said. “I just thought, I’m the guy for this.”
For Clooney, that role may have been the breakout that got away — but he eventually made his mark. And today, he and Pitt can laugh about the moment that once stung.
