Back when he took on Thelma and Louise, Ridley Scott wasn't as famous as he is now, but he was still kind of a big deal. Scott was known as an action-movie guy: some of his films prior to this feminist blockbuster included Blade Runner, featuring a young Harrison Ford, and Alien, with Sigourney Weaver, a then newbie. But even he was surprised when he decided to direct Khouri's first-ever screenplay.

Scott was into the film immediately, but he wanted to take it on as a producer, not a director. He also wanted to make sure it stayed funny, in order to guarantee that it would have the widest audience appeal (boys gotta like it too, right?).

But after propositioning four different directors, all of whom turned it down, Scott realized that he had accidentally talked himself into directing the odyssey he considered Thelma and Louise to be. And despite his not-so-sensitive action-filmy tendencies, he couldn't have been a better choice. We mean, no one could say the truck explosion scene isn't amazing, right?