It's Been Almost 30 Years – Let's Catch Up With the Original “Jurassic Park” Cast

Jeff Goldblum’s fan-favorite Dr. Ian Malcolm was a bit of an interesting character in the original “Jurassic Park.” He’s a math whiz who’s brought in as a consultant to Jurassic Park. When all hell breaks loose at the park, though, Dr. Malcolm naturally finds himself gravely injured – or so we think. He’s sidelined while his cohorts continue to try to battle dinosaurs and restore order, winning over audiences with his intelligent rants, but the movie closes with his character presumed dead. Fortunately for all of us, this turned out to be not the case. Goldblum’s back in “Jurassic World Dominion” to reprise his role.

“Jurassic Park” is arguably Jeff Goldblum’s breakout role. Since the 1993 film, he’s not only starred in some of the sequels but also taken on roles in a number of other projects, like “Portlandia,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and “Independence Day.” “Jurassic World Dominion” is the first time he’ll be back alongside both Sam Neill and Laura Dern in the Jurassic Park franchise. In 2020, director Colin Trevorrow told Empire of bringing the 1993 cast back for “Jurassic World Dominion”: “You start asking the most basic questions: who are these people now? What do they make of the new world they’re living in, and how do they feel about being part of its history?”

Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant is the paleontologist at the center of what goes down at Jurassic Park in the first film. After being brought into the park for a safety evaluation – because, you know, the dinosaurs are violent – Grant finds himself running for his life to try to escape the dinosaurs that are rapidly breeding, despite what the staff thought was going to happen. He, very fortunately, makes it out alive, finding himself at the center of “Jurassic Park III” to continue his story.

Sam Neill has been plenty busy since the first Jurassic Park film. He’s had starring roles in “The Tudors” and “Peaky Blinders” and appeared in “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Peter Rabbit.” He’ll return to “Jurassic World Dominion” as Dr. Grant, prepared to finish what he and the team started nearly 30 years ago. He told Vanity Fair in April of returning to his character: “I could relax into it because we had been there before. We knew the knitting pattern.”

Laura Dern plays Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleobotanist who is also part of the team at Jurassic Park examining the situation after the dinosaurs go rogue. Like Dr. Grant and Dr. Malcolm, Dr. Sattler has to run for her life to escape the dinos. She’s also Dr. Grant’s student and girlfriend; the relationship, however, doesn’t last as the franchise goes on.

Laura Dern is a Hollywood powerhouse. Since “Jurassic Park,” she’s starred in a number of movies and TV shows, including “October Sky,” “I Am Sam,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” and “Big Little Lies.” Her appearance in “Jurassic Park Dominion” is Dern’s first true return to the franchise since starring in 1993’s original installment. She told People in May 2021 how excited she was to come back together with Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum, and though she wouldn’t reveal much about Dr. Sattler’s story, she did say, “Saving butts might be involved” – though she wouldn’t say whose.