cast and creators on the latest Jurassic movie

It’s kind of like a reunion. Half the cast of Jurassic World: Dominion – episode six of the dino franchise that began with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film and grossed some $5 billion in total – has gathered in London to do a round of international press. The journalists flown in are divided into groups of three, the cast members rotate. That works well. At least, better than a messy press conference at a film festival.

It’s true: they have something to sell, but they take their time, says California director Colin Trevorrow (45), who previously Jurassic World (2015) ran: ‘The previous films had a recognizable pattern. Scientists undertake an expedition to a tropical island that may be safe or unsafe. It is usually unsafe there. We wanted to do something different with part six.’

The solution: an ensemble film. All of the franchise’s major characters reunite for the Grand Finale one last time. Because for the time being Jurassic World: Dominion be the very last part. Old faces, new faces. From the first Jurassic generation, Sam Neill (74), Laura Dern (55), Jeff Goldblum (69) and DB Wong (61) return. They formed the soul of the three-part Jurassic Parkseries, based on the books by Michael Crichton.

Then in 2015 came the relaunch, in Hollywood terms: the reboot† In the second series, the couple Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) determine the face. Together they have an adopted teenage daughter, Maisie Lockwood, played by Isabella Sermon (15).

There are also newcomers in the latter part. This time DeWanda Wise (33) – she plays the fearless pilot Kayla Watts. And you have Mamoudou Athie (33) as the up-and-coming talent Ramsay Cole at the Biosyn Corporation experimenting with clones.

His boss is the diabolical Lewis Dodgson. That character was already in part 1, but the actor who played him at the time, Cameron Thor, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2016 for intoxicating and assaulting a 13-year-old girl who came to take classes at his acting studio. The role of the villain is now ably filled by Campbell Scott (60).

Behold the basic setup of Jurassic World Dominion† The ‘dominion’ from the title – to be translated as: dominion – refers back to the sinister intentions Dodgson has with his mutated dinosaurs. We won’t reveal more about the plot, just that things get completely out of hand with the beasts again.

But first another evil had to be fought. “We started filming in February 2020,” Bryce Dallas Howard says, “but had to be halted in March due to the pandemic.” An expensive joke for such a big film with a budget of 165 million dollars (153 million euros). In July 2020 we were able to continue, taking into account all safety measures. So we were about the only actors on the entire planet allowed to work. Also at the weekend we stayed in our bubble on the set in England. We ate together, we played computer games or Frisbee to pass the time.’

In a strange way, because out of necessity, that group feeling fitted well with an ensemble film. ‘In such a film there are no pronounced leading roles. Everyone is equal. That takes a lot of pressure off, because nobody has to carry the film alone. And besides, we knew: from part 1 it’s not about the actors. The real stars are the dinosaurs. We knew our place.’

Yes: the dinosaurs. The big difference with the previous parts is that – certainly in the beginning of the film – they were not conjured up from the computer, but that they were gigantic scale models on the set, which were controlled remotely. animatronics, are called such dolls. This allowed the actors to interact with, say, the Giganotosaurus in front of the camera

DeWanda Wise: ‘The happiest day was when writer Michael Crichton’s widow came on set: Sherri Alexander. She had brought their son John, who never knew his father. When Michael died in 2008, she was six months pregnant. That boy went completely crazy because of about twenty man-sized dinos on the set. “Look, Mom, look!” And we all bit our lip, because we understood how beautiful it is that Crichton’s creation lives on. And that his son still made some sort of contact with his father.’

Look, that’s where Jeff Goldblum comes in. A tall lanky, wearing big black horn-rimmed glasses, just like in the movie. He has many memorable roles to his name, and within the Jurassic franchise, he is a chaos theory mathematician, Ian Malcolm. A fine anti-hero, this mad scientist.

Goldblum: Well, I don’t necessarily think he’s crazy. He sees things in a broader perspective. Even if he might be a bit unconventional, and… erm… coloring outside the lines. Which of course entails his profession. To me, Ian Malcolm is a person of great compassion. For the dinosaurs, but also for humanity. A person who fights with his comrades against indifference and greed.’

The first time he played Malcolm was 25 years ago. What was it like to be among the original cast again? “First we reminisced and then we focused on our new task. For everyone who enjoyed those first episodes of Jurassic Park it was a life-changing experience. None of us had seen it this big before.’

Just think about it’San Diego Incident‘ from part II. A T-rex frantically breaks loose in the streets and, like some kind of King Kong, rams the city over. She is looking for her baby, who is in the minivan with Ian Malcolm. The consequences are disastrous, but in the nick of time it ends well (obviously). ‘All right? Well done! I’ve had nightmares for years about bad-tempered dinosaurs chasing me.’

When you see the cast pass by, you also better understand the logic behind this action film for 12 years and older. We know it from family sitcoms. They are written in such a way that each age group gets its own character. In Jurassic World we find people in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and sixties and for the teenagers there is 15-year-old Isabella Sermon, who made her debut as an 11-year-old in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom† The British actress was given a break from school for this press day, she says, but ‘next week is still a tough math exam.’

It must have been a strange experience for her to come aboard a series that started before she was born. ‘Weird, yes. I was 5 when I first saw the original Jurassic Park saw. My parents had set it up in the living room and I quietly sat down by it. Because of all those dinos I couldn’t believe my eyes. I also went to save them, a whole plastic bucket full. Maybe they’ll make me one of those dolls now too. Or a Lego version.’

The final word belongs to director Colin Trevorrow. He turned in 2015 Jurassic Worldand now Dominion† Isn’t he dino-tired yet? ‘I think studio Universal has done a decent job with this series. Six films in thirty years, that’s still possible. Compared to other series that have three parts a year, plus one or two TV shows… that’s overkill.’

Steven Spielberg, the instigator of all of this, is on the role as executive producer. Was he keeping an eye out? ‘Oh yes. He still remains our guide. He read the script and saw that we have different storylines, not what you usually find in a blockbuster. As a rule, it goes from A to B. To make it more special, each member of our ensemble gets its own history and at the end everything collides with each other.’

Sometimes he saw Spielberg frowning. He then asked: are you sure about this? But yeah, if I were to make a copy of the earlier movies, it wouldn’t be fun for anyone. Not for us and certainly not for the public. I had to dare to take the same risks he once took.’

And what was his answer? ‘Then he said… look, kiddo… haha. He supported us all the time, but he has clear opinions. If he saw something in the script that could go wrong, he added it with a red pencil: “Look at this again.” I could appreciate that.’

It would also, Trevorrow knows, be very stupid not to.