Ridley Scott misted Brad Pitt’s abs with Evian before Thelma & Louise love scenes

Let’s be clear about something: This Geena Davis interview with The Daily Beast is a great read for reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that Sir Ridley Scott would personally mist Brad Pitt’s abs with Evian water between takes of the love scenes in Thelma & Louise. Davis talks about the work of the Geena Davis Institute On Gender In Media at length. She addresses the importance of The Scully Effect (the impact that The X-Files had in inspiring women to work in a STEM field) and the ways in which media perpetuates toxic masculinity. She also talks about A League Of Their Own and The Long Kiss Goodnight and her audition for Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. It’s good stuff! She’s Geena Davis! You should read it!

But you’re not here because of Davis’s nuanced thoughts about diversity in Hollywood or the film festival she co-founded. You’re here because Sir Ridley Scott himself misted Brad Pitt’s rippling torso with Evian water between takes of the love scenes in Thelma & Louise.

Bless.

I also read a story about how Ridley wanted to use a stunt double for the sex scenes with Brad and you were like, “Nope! I got this.”

Oh! You know, I vaguely remember that happening! A funny thing that happened while we were shooting those scenes also was before we shot, Ridley would personally spray Evian on Brad’s washboard stomach. I was like, “Hi! I’m in this scene too. Does anyone want to make me look sexy?” [Laughs] It was just really funny. He’s the artist. He wants his vision to come across, and that included Brad having a great stomach.

It sounds like Sir Ridley was very attuned to the female gaze.

Exactly!

Davis also address the part she played in Pitt’s casting, which seems to have come down to stating the obvious:

I read with about five guys for Ridley and the casting director, and they came in one-by-one, and I thought each one was great. But the last one was Brad and you could just imagine having seen him on screen that he’s insanely charismatic. There was just something magnetic about him. So at the end I said, “Do you want me to weigh in at all about what I think?” And they said, “Sure.” And I said, “The blond one, don’t you think?!”

Were you to list all of Geena Davis’ many accomplishments in order of impressiveness and importance, this wouldn’t crack the top 10 exactly. All the same, “The blond one, don’t you think?!” is definitely on there somewhere.