Laura Dern and Sam Neill reflect on their Jurassic Park age gap

jurassic park
(Image credit: Universal)

Jurassic World: Dominion sees the return of Laura Dern and Sam Neill as Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant. The pair will be reprising their beloved roles from the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park in the upcoming movie.

As part of their press tour, Dern and Neill have been reflecting on the first film, and in particular, if their romance in the movie was "completely appropriate". There was an almost 20-year age gap between them when they first starred as Dern was 23 while Neill was 44.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Neill said: "I am 20 years older than Laura! Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady." He explains that he only reassessed this when he saw them in a magazine article called 'Old geezers and gals', featuring stars like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. "There I was, on the list. I thought, 'Come on. It can’t be true'."

Dern also weighed in on the age difference, revealing it is only recently that she’s been reconsidering it as well. She added: "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 and Neill will be joined by Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World: Dominion. The original trio are uniting with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard for the dramatic end to the latest trilogy. This sees humans and dinosaurs coexisting after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Jurassic World: Dominion is released on June 10. Check out our guide to all of the upcoming 2022 movie release dates.

Fay Watson
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at 12DOVE, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.