Jurassic Park Stars Laura Dern And Sam Neill 'Only Now' Realise Their Age Gap In First Film Was 'Inappropriate'

Laura Dern and Sam Neill have reflected on their ‘inappropriate’ age gap when filming Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dino blockbuster, Jurassic Park.

The pair starred opposite one another as palaeobotanist Dr Ellie Sattler and palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant, and sparks flew despite the latter being old enough to be the former’s dad. 

However, Dern, who is returning for the sixth film in the franchise – World Dominion – alongside Neill, has said it’s ‘only now’ she realises just how problematic their age gap was. 

Neill said of sharing the screen with Dern when she was just 23: “I am 20 years older than Laura! Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady! 

“It never occurred to me until I opened a magazine and there was an article called ‘Old geezers and gals’. People like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery acting with much younger people, and there I was, on the list.”

Dern added: “Well, it felt completely appropriate to fall in love with Sam Neill. And it was only now, when we returned in a moment of cultural awareness about the patriarchy, that I was, like, ‘Wow! We’re not the same age?’”

Dern, now 55, and Neill, 74, are not the only members of the original Jurassic Park cast to star alongside Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in the third and final reboot installation; fan favourite Jeff Goldblum will also return. 

Character posters of Dern, Neill, Goldblum, Pratt and Dallas Howard released earlier this month united the two generations, no doubt sending fans’ heart rates skyrocketing.  

When asked whether or not World Dominion marked the end of Jurassic Park forever, he hinted there may be more instalments to come later down the line.

Pratt said: “You’d want to leave it open to that possibility. There aren’t a ton of comps for this kind of a thing. 

“I think maybe Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame is a similar comp because you’ve got whatever that was…10 years, 20-something films. 

“All of these characters each had their own stories, their own trilogies coming together. And you’re like, 'this is wild'.”