Where was Thelma and Louise filmed? Shooting locations of the 1991 Oscar-nominated film

Thelma and Louise is a 1991 American film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unforeseen circumstances. The supporting cast includes Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, and Brad Pitt in one of his first major film roles. Read on to know about Thelma and Louise filming locations. 

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Where was Thelma and Louise filmed? 

According to a report by Movie-Locations.com, the movie’s journey is from Arkansas through Oklahoma and Colorado to Arizona, but the director, Ridley Scott, filmed only the last third of the movie, in the desert, outside greater Los Angeles and Bakersfield, mainly in Utah. The green and wet landscape shown in the film were shot in an area known as Gorman, north of Los Angeles and the Lockwood Valley. 

There was a motel featured in the film where the two lead characters, Thelma and Louise meet Brad Pitt's character JD and it was filmed in Downtown Los Angeles at the Vagabond Inn, near the University of Southern California campus and the Shrine Auditorium. The Grand Canyon scenes were shot just south of Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. Parts of the movie were also shot at Shafer Overlook, Monument Valley, La Sal Mountains, La Sal Junction, Cisco, Old Valley City Reservoir, Thompson Springs, Arches National Park, and Crescent Junction in Utah. 

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The shooting for the 1991 film began in June 1990 and lasted for 12 weeks. Despite some controversy at the time of its release, accusing the movie of portraying a negative view of men, the film became a critical and commercial success, receiving six Academy Award nominations and winning the same for Best Original Screenplay. Ridley Scott was nominated for Best Director, and both the lead actors Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were nominated for Best Actress. According to a report by Mental Floss, Geena Davis wanted to play the role of Louise and not Thelma and even urged the casting directors to hire Brad Pitt for the role of JD. Also, the writer of the film, Callie Khouri had her doubts about Ridley being the director as he was famous for making sci-fi movies like Blade Runner and Alien. 

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