Geena Davis Talks About Susan Sarandon and Their Times Square Reunion

Geena Davis went on Jimmy Kimmel Live where she talked about being recognized from Beetlejuice and her continued friendship with Susan Sarandon. “Why does that comfort me in some way?” Kimmel asks. “Because even though we’re dead” Davis replies, “we’re still, y’know, [clenches fist].”

The two talked about Davis and Sarandons’ recent feature for Harper Bazaar’s May issue in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Thelma and Louise, Thunderbird included. I’d definitely recommend heading over to Bazaar, where both Sarandon and Davis reflect on the movie’s impact. Something that really struck out to me was this excerpt from Davis’ piece:

We really didn’t know the movie was going to strike a nerve; nobody had any idea. It was very shocking, the reaction we got. When the movie came out, there was negative stuff like, “It’s so man-hating,” and “Oh, God, this is not the solution.”

…One very common theme in the press was, “This changes everything. Now there are going to be so many female buddy pictures, so many female action figures. This just completely rewrites everything,” and it didn’t. The really short answer is, it didn’t do shit.

Do those quotes sound depressingly familiar? Davis has always been very outspoken and active about combatting gender inequality in film, and I think this excerpt about Thelma and Louise illustrates how much progress still needs to be made. However, she does celebrate the young actresses today that are similarly speaking up about roles for women in Hollywood and the hope they give her.

The two are fantastic and amazingly fierce as they pose for the cover and talk about the film. Sarandon calls the film a “love story of women,” and Davis says “the most liberating thing about filming Thelma & Louise was hanging around with Susan. She changed my life.” Sarandon also says that for the anniversary the two want to do a tour of campuses to address rape and accountability.

Davis also talked about her film festival in another clip, the Bentonville Film Festival which centers around “[championing] women and diverse voices in media.” Last year and this year, several actors from A League of Their Own will reunite and play some ball.

Anyone else aching to rewatch Thelma and Louise?

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