Stars of Jurassic Park Sam Neill and Laura Dern share the last time that they watched the classic dinosaur film. Jurassic Park premiered in 1993 and is the first film in a franchise that continues to this day. The Jurassic franchise centers on a theme park of living, cloned dinosaurs. The original Steven Spielberg-directed film stars Neill, Dern, and Jeff Goldblum as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, the paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, and mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm respectively, who are brought to the park as part of a safety certification.
Neill and Dern both have had long, successful careers since the release of Jurassic Park. Dern’s roles in films and shows such as Blue Velvet, Wild, and Big Little Lies have only solidified her legacy. Neill’s work also spans both blockbusters and indie hits such as The Hunt for Red October, Thor: Ragnarok, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Still, their characters in Jurassic Park hold some of their most memorable performances, and they will reprise their roles as Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler in the latest installment in the franchise, Jurassic World Dominion.
Now in an interview with The New York Times, Neill and Dern reflect on the last time that they each sat down to watch Jurassic Park in its entirety. For Neill, this was at Leicester Square at the London premiere of the film, and he recalls sitting in between Diana, Princess of Wales, and his 11-year old son, Tim. Part of the reason this memory is so vivid, is he notes feeling embarrassed after Tim farted, and the smell began to draft in the direction of Princess Diana. Dern’s last time watching the film is more recent, saying that the first time she’s actually watched the film in its entirety was three days before beginning to film Jurassic World Dominion. She notes that watching it with her daughter was an amazing experience, both to witness the film through her daughter’s eyes, and also because the film two decades later is still fun to watch. A full quote from Neill on watching Jurassic Park at the London premiere can be read below:
The last time I watched it in its totality was sitting beside Princess Di at Leicester Square at the London opening. On the other side of me was my son Tim — he was 11 and completely swept away by it, but about the time the T-Rex turns up, Tim started to fart. And the draft was drifting across me to royalty! I spent the whole film in a muck sweat, thinking, “Princess Di is being exposed to the horrors of a little boy’s fart, but she’s going to think it’s me. I am going to be subliminally blamed for my son’s crimes, and I don’t think she’ll talk to me afterwards.” But she was well brought up and never mentioned it.
Dern also mentions witnessing the chemistry between herself, Neill, and Goldblum on-screen while watching Jurassic Park, and notes that filming Jurassic Park brought the three actors closer to the point that they are still friends to this day. This camaraderie may be partly why the three actors continue to come back to the films years later, and continue to play the characters that so many fans have come to love over the years. It seems that in Jurassic World Dominion, Neill’s and Dern’s characters will become closer than ever as there will be a romantic element to their relationship once again.
Neill and Dern’s appreciation for Jurassic Park, and the subsequent world that continues to be built, is heard in their retellings of the last time that they watched the film themselves. Although their characters shouldn’t be stuck in 1993, revisiting the original film as Dern did before filming Jurassic World Dominion, may help draw points of connection to the ever-evolving characters in order to make it a three-dimensional representation of Dr. Sattler. The chance to play two characters, especially ones who are experts in their fields over the span of so many years doesn’t happen often, and looking ahead to Jurassic World Dominion, viewers will have to see how Dern and Neill add yet another layer to their already complex characters.
Sources: The New York Times
