Jurassic World: Dominion has done the one thing no other film in the franchise has been able to do since the 1993 classic Jurassic Park—it has brought Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum back together again.
The trio famously portrayed Dr. Ellie Sattler (Dern), Dr. Alan Grant (Neill) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) in Steven Spielberg's iconic movie.
Previously, Neill took center stage for the franchise's third film, Jurassic Park III, with Dern returning for a small cameo, while Goldblum was the star of the original's sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park and made a cameo in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
For all intents and purposes, it didn't seem like the trio would reunite onscreen, but as Goldblum's character famously says: "Life finds a way." In this case it was thanks to director Colin Trevorrow.
Why Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum Have Returned for 'Jurassic World'
Trevorrow was keen to have Dern, Neill and Goldblum return for the third film in the Jurassic World trilogy, which successfully rebooted the franchise with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard starring as Owen Grady and Claire Dearing.
The director spoke to Empire Magazine about bringing the original trio back for Jurassic World: Dominion, saying he met with Dern and Neill separately to try and persuade them to return.
He told the publication: "At the beginning of that, [Neill] probably was looking at me with a certain amount of skepticism and side-eye.
"I'm not Steven Spielberg. I never will be. And so I really had to start from scratch in convincing these people that I was going to be able to guide them through the return to these characters that mean so much to them."
Despite Trevorrow's fears, Neill told the publication that the director actually reminded him of Spielberg, and Dern also explained that the reason she and Neill agreed to return was thanks to the story the director had created for their characters.
She added that the filmmaker made sure that it mattered to the story and wasn't empty fan service, saying: "Colin was really keen to make it matter. We discover what it would feel like if these three characters came back together, and how they would feel about each other. And it's delicious."
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Trevorrow said that initially he had some fears about bringing the trio back together, but that quickly dissipated when he saw them on set again.
He explained: "I think there was a bit of tenuousness at first, with me wondering, 'Is their dynamic going to echo the dynamic of the characters in the movie? Do Jeff and Sam actually have a problem with each other?'
"None of those things ended up being true. They have a completely unique dynamic that is all their own. I just had to learn it over time."
In a separate interview with Metro, Dern shared how she teared up when she saw everyone together again.
"These two casts came together with new characters together and we all literally moved in together because of the pandemic and spent five months as a family. It was amazing," Dern said. "And it brought tears to my eyes the first day the three of us were together on set. We were giggly and teary, and taking pictures and it was really special."
Jurassic World: Dominion is out in theaters now.
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Roxy Simons is a Newsweek TV and Film Reporter (SEO), based in London, U.K. Her focus is reporting on the ... Read more
