Overview
- McDonald told a SAG-AFTRA Foundation career retrospective that he and Geena Davis were engaged for about five weeks before she fell in love with Jeff Goldblum while filming Transylvania 6-5000.
- He said he learned the engagement was off from Ed Begley Jr. while he was performing the role of Laertes in Hamlet and described himself as “really, really devastated.”
- The two reconnected professionally on Ridley Scott’s 1991 film Thelma & Louise, where McDonald said they met for lunch, reconciled and that the work felt cathartic.
- Geena Davis wrote about the episode in her 2022 memoir, saying she “broke his heart” to be with Goldblum and that she was ashamed and grateful for McDonald’s forgiveness.
- The recent coverage is retrospective human-interest reporting that highlights how brief on-set relationships can carry personal consequences and later shape career collaborations in Hollywood.