The main cast ofJurassic Parkhave plenty of memories of filming the dinosaur movie that changed the face of prehistoric films forever, but none funnier than their recollection of directorSteven Spielbergmaking dinosaur noises on set. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum recently spoke toEmpirefor a special celebratory edition of the magazine, recalling memories of their time being beseiged by dinosaurs.
Jurassic Park
WhenJurassic Parkexploded into cinemas in 1993, it involved groundbreaking special effects that allowed prehistoric creatures to come alive on screen like never before – special effects thatcontinue to look amazing over 30 years later. However, during filming, Spielberg had to resort to hilariously making his own noises to let the stars know when dinosaurs were going to be on the screen. As Dern explained, the late Richard Attenborough had a brilliant reaction to Spielberg’s attempts at giving the cast a vocal cue.
“The first day of filming was a memory I’ll never forget. It’s early on in the film where Richard [Attenborough] is giving us a tour and sending a cow down into the cage. We were all reacting differently, do we said, ‘Steven, we need your help. We need a sound to respond to.’ And on take two, we’re waiting and listening, and it’s scary…then suddenly, we hear Steven go, ‘REERRRGHH! REERRGHH!’ All of us were cracking up. Richard went, ‘My dead boy, is that what we’re going to hear for the next ten weeks?”
Neill backed up Dern’s comments about the “fear” Spielberg could inflict with his imitations of a T-Rex or Velociraptor. He said:
“Steven’s roars were absolutely terrifying. [Laughs] I remember that scene where we were running away from the Gallimimus and they get diverted because the T-Rex turns up and starts eating a few. We had to react to the dinosaurs, and there’s Steven at the bottom of the field, going, ‘GRRRROOAGH!’ through a bullhorn and waving a stick with a 4x4 picture of a dinosaur’s head. It was pretty funny that.”
Working on Jurassic World Movies Was Very Different to Jurassic Park
Three decades after Spielberg spent much of his time on the set ofJurassic Parkpretending to be a dinosaur, J.A. Bayona did not have to get quite so involved when directingJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.Jeff Goldblummade a very fleeting appearance in that movie, but while on set he did see how things had changed when it came to making sure actors knew when dinosaurs would be putting in an appearance. He recalled:
“I was on the set of Jurassic World 2 for shooting where dinosaurs are running amok with Bryce [Dallas Howard] and Chris [Pratt]. And they had, for the benefit of the actors and the atmosphere of everybody, dinosaur sounds from the other movies that were amazingly broadcast, as well as the music J.A. Bayona had chosen. I thought, ‘Boy, I kinda wish I’d had this when I was making them.’ But then again, the naïve experience of having Seven doing that was pretty great too.”
Whilethe original three cast members returned forJurassic World: Dominion, it seems that their time in the franchise could well be done now. Latest rumors have suggested thatBlack WidowstarScarlett Johansson is being lined up to take over as franchise leadin Gareth Edwards new movie, which is already scheduled for release in 2025.
Jurassic Park: The 10 Biggest Differences Between the Movie and Michael Crichton’s Book
While Steven Spielberg’s take on Jurassic Park is iconic in its own right, it takes some serious deviations from its source material.
Reviews ofJurassic World: Dominionsuggested that the downward slide of the franchise had hit a new low, but that didn’t stop the Jurassic bandwagon rolling on again. What is apparent, though, is that there will never be a movie that can quite capture the magic of the 1993 original, and everyone should remember that part of that magic involved the legendary director that is Steven Spielberg, running around the set pretending to be a dinosaur.
Jurassic Parkis currently streaming on Netflix, while the latest movie,Jurassic World: Dominionis available on Starz.
