LEGEND RIVALRY

George Clooney Shares the Role He Lost to Brad Pitt

The two Oscar-winning actors have been friends for years, but one film once made them rivals.

George Clooney has opened up about the role that was taken from him by his now-Hollywood-legend friend, Brad Pitt. “I got to the final test for a role in Thelma & Louise‚” the 64-year-old actor told The Times about the famous Ridley Scott film, recalling that at the time he was working in TV rather than film. “And, motherf---er, Brad got it,” Clooney continued, mentioning Brad Pitt, 61, who has since starred with him in the Ocean’s trilogy and the movie Wolfs. “I didn’t watch Thelma & Louise for years,” the actor recalled about his spite for the 1991 classic after he lost the role to Pitt, who later gave him “s--t” for it. The two Oscar-winning actors have been open about their long friendship and will begin filming Ocean’s 14 in 2026. “We’ve been friends for a long time. And it’s fun because we also check in on each other every once in a while,” Clooney told GQ magazine in 2024. During the Times interview, Adam Sandler, 59—who is promoting the new movie, Jay Kelly, with Clooney—interjected, saying about Thelma & Louise, “I saw that at the cinema and when Brad took his shirt off people went nuts.” Before adding, “But it should have been you, Clooney.”