29 years ago back in 1993, Jurassic Park debuted for the first time and set off a series of films that are still being released today.
As it happens: the people love dinosaurs.
So much so, that they're still turning out to theatres nowadays, with Jurassic Park's most recent instalment: Jurassic World Dominion premiering on June 9, 2022.
And, as is customary of an iconic first movie release, the cast from movie one have in many cases, gone on to significant stardom.
Image: Jurassic Park
With some of the stars have returning time and time again to appear in the franchise, others have taken a different direction with their career.
So, we thought we'd take a look at what the stars are doing now, 29 years later.
Image: Jurassic Park.
Before Goldblum appeared in the first edition of Jurassic Park back in 1993, he had found fame in quirky roles like playing the Scientist in David Cronenberg's The Fly. And his fame only increased post-Jurassic Park.
He's appeared in Independence Day, Morning Glory, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of Dogs.
More recently, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thor: Ragnarok playing the Grandmaster. All the while, he has reprised his roles in Jurassic Sequels including The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion.
Outside of acting, Goldblum is in a jazz band, Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, who released their first album, The Capitol Studios Sessions, in 2018.
In 2014, Goldblum married his wife Emilie Livingston and welcomed their firstborn, Charlie Ocean, on July 4, 2015. Sticking with the nature-based names, they welcomed their second son River Joe on April 7, 2017.
Image: Jurassic Park.
Laura Dern was already a star when she accepted a role as courageous paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler on Jurassic Park. At only 23, she had already received an Oscar nomination for the film Rambling Rose.
Following Jurassic Park, she starred in Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World, October Sky, The Fault in Our Stars, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Big Little Lies.
She is a well-respected actor with an Oscar, Emmy and five Golden Globe Awards to her name. And, like many of her counterparts, she reprised her role in Jurassic World: Dominion.
“It never occurred to me that I would revisit Ellie, to be honest, mostly because I never could have imagined that the franchise would continue the way that it has,” Dern recently told Vogue.
“But if I was gonna come back, I felt like I had to be protective of a character that meant so much to other people – not just someone whose origin story I cared about when I was 23.”
Image: Jurassic Park.
New Zealand actor, Sam Neill played Dr Grant in the original Jurassic Park — already a well-established actor when he took the role.
Post-Jurassic Park, he was a strong contender for James Bond, but he didn't want the role.
“First of all, I wouldn’t have taken the role if they’d asked me to do it,” he told Den of Geek recently.
“It was the last time that I was bullied into doing a screen test. My agent insisted that I go and do it, [saying] it would be rude otherwise. So reluctantly I went out to Pinewood [Studios] and did this silly thing for a part I never wanted to do.”
James Bond aside, Neill has an impressive acting repertoire, with The Tudor, Peaky Blinders and Thor: Ragnarok under his belt.
In his personal life, Neill reconnected with one of his sons, Andrew, in 2014, who was adopted after Neill fathered him in his early 20s.
The actor told The Times the two "went looking for" each other and that they had a "much more grownup" reunion than he expected.
Image: Jurassic Park.
David Attenborough's elder brother, Richard Attenborough also enjoyed a life in the spotlight.
He appeared in Jurassic Park after a 14-year-hiatus from acting, then again in its sequel: The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Attenborough's later years were marked by personal tragedy when he lost his daughter and granddaughter in the tsunami that hit Thailand the day after Christmas in 2004.
In 2008, he was hospitalised with heart problems. Later that year, he suffered a stroke and within a few years moved into a nursing home with his wife.
Attenborough died at the age of 90 in 2014, just weeks shy of his 91st birthday.
In remembrance of Richard Attenborough. His life found a way to touch the hearts, minds & imaginations of the world. pic.twitter.com/Hgock5RwwD
— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) August 25, 2014
Image: Jurassic Park.
Bradley Darryl Wong was, like many, already an established actor when he joined the cast of Jurassic Park.
But he wasn't as fond of the role as you might expect... Speaking to The A.V. Club, Wong explained that he was bitter about his role as Dr. Henry Wu for many years.
"I’m a very lucky person. I did this bit part in the original Jurassic Park movie, and anybody who worked on that movie would probably have to be honest and tell you that they didn’t have any designs for [my] character at all.
"They didn’t care about him, they don’t even explain what happened to him at the end of the movie when everyone’s evacuating the island! Clearly, he was not a priority for anyone. And I was very bitter about that for many years.
"But my good friend Nathan once said to me, ‘Oh, well, you don’t have to worry about that, because that’s going to come back to you. You’ll see. They’ll come back to you.’ And I was, like, ‘I don’t see how that’s ever going to come back to me.’ I really could not see what he saw..."
And his friend was right. Wong returned to the Jurassic franchise in 2015 to reprise his role in Jurassic World, then twice more in the following sequels.
Outside of the Jurassic Park franchise, Wong is best known for his role as Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Father Ray Mukada on Oz.
Image: Jurassic Park.
Joseph Mazzello was very new to acting when he played Tim Murphy in Jurassic Park at only 9 years old.
And his acting career took off from there, with roles in Three Wishes, The Social Network and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Joe went on to earn a degree in cinema and television from the University of Southern California, with the help of director, Steven Spielberg, of course.
"Steven wrote me a recommendation for USC to go to film school. Believe it or not, I got in," Mazzello told People. "He's been there for me throughout my life whenever I really needed him."
Image: Jurassic Park.
Nowadays, Samuel L. Jackson is one of Hollywood's biggest actors of all time, but he was relatively unknown to audiences when he played Jurassic Park's chief engineer Ray Arnold.
Since his fairly small role in Jurassic Park, Jackson has gone on to be a mainstay in the Marvel universe, as well as in three Star Wars films.
He's voiced Frozone for The Incredibles, and appeared in Snakes on a Plane, Pulp Fiction, RoboCop and Django Unchained.
In 2022 Jackson received an honorary Academy Award, for being "a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide".
Image: Jurassic Park.
Ariana Richards was only 12 years old when she appeared in Jurassic Park as Lex Murphy.
Since then, she's moved away from acting, instead making a name for herself as an artist, travelling around the world painting and promoting her work.
But, she wouldn't be opposed to going back to acting if the opportunity arose.
"If some great role or project finds me, absolutely that could be a nice thing to do, for sure," she told People.
Feature Image: Jurassic Park / Mamamia.
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