The end of an era is about to dawn with Jurassic World: Dominion’s theatrical release. Uniting Jurassic World castmates of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard with legacy trio Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern, and it’s been promised as an Avengers: Endgame level event. Even movies that big wind up leaving some fabulous moments on the cutting room floor, and both Neill and Dern had moments they really wanted to see released to the public; some of them naturally including Goldblum’s habit of Jurassic World improvs.
The Best Jurassic World: Dominion Improvs From Jeff Goldblum You’ll (Probably) Never See
As a fan of the Jurassic franchise since day one, I had the absolute honor of interviewing the actors behind Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler themselves, on behalf of the upcoming movie’s release. The opportunity had us all talking about both the past and present of this dino-driven blockbuster, which was enhanced by all of the cast members being able to contribute to their characters through additions to the dialogue.
Naturally, Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm is the right character to take full advantage of such nature. With Sam Neill recalling one such moment to CinemaBlend, the following story is something you won’t see in theaters, no matter how much you want to:
The one thing that I miss, that’s not in the film, is Jeff finds himself driving a Jeep, and the night sky is full of burning creatures. It becomes clear to me that Ian Malcolm has never driven before, and I really think he needs to slow down, because he’s going to kill all of us. And that exchange didn’t make it. That of course is infuriating. He’s not only reckless, but he’s endangering all our lives. This is ridiculous. And I’ve got Maisie in the back, I’m responsible for a kid again. Alan for some reason always ends up in charge of the kid. Not that he has any great brief for kids, but someone has to do it.
Children, fascinating as they may be, have never been Dr. Alan Grant’s field of expertise. Yet somehow, he always winds up being the right person to save them, especially when someone like Dr. Ian Malcolm is doing something foolish that could gum up the works. Reading about that Jurassic World: Dominion outtake that was improvised on set reminds me of how in Jurassic Park, Alan is initially the one who looks to be saving the group from Roberta the T-Rex with a flare. It all goes south practically at the last possible moment, when Ian steps out with his own flare and risks his life.
At least when Jeff Goldblum improvises, it leads to bringing down the house, and not a bathroom. This was only further proven during my discussion with Laura Dern, who highlighted the following moment as her favorite Goldblum-enhanced playground:
Jeff will have a million on any movie he ever does, because he’s always inventing. He has one moment walking down a corridor where he tells a story to Chris, and every take was different. And I’m sad people don’t get to see every single take, because some were hysterical. To the point that we’re all supposed to be terrified and focused, and at the end of the take we were just dying.
All of the improvisations and workshopping that the legacy cast of Jurassic World: Dominion engaged in were a part of the process. With all involved talking about how fiercely protective everyone behind the scenes was of these characters, letting Jeff Goldblum play his character with the same prowess he plays jazz was an easy fit. Especially when a recent trailer showed Jeff Goldblum’s trademark snark on full display.
How Laura Dern’s Favorite Deleted Jurassic World: Dominion Improvs With Sam Neill Influenced The Final Cut
However, it was an even better idea to let Sam Neill and Laura Dern engage in some of that magic themselves. This was another piece of Dern’s favorite moments that didn’t make it into Jurassic World: Dominion’s final cut. It’s not a total loss though, as she laid out how those pieces still live on in the film:
But with Sam, honestly everything we improvised or created for our characters, our character’s dynamic and love of each other, it all just fed the feeling of the story. It’s such an enormous movie, not everything could be in there. So there are pieces I’m sad got lost, but I can feel them in the relationship, because the relationship has to sustain, and you have to want certain things to happen by the end. We always thought so many things were needed to tell that story, but as the film has shown, it does sustain even without those pieces. I think all of us working on how it was developing was really important to get there.
Seeing Alan and Ellie reunited in the trailers for Jurassic World: Dominion was a sight for sore franchise eyes. Having seen the film myself, the chemistry between both Sam Neill and Laura Dern hasn’t waned a bit. That fact is thrown into even sharper relief when the two are reunited with Jeff Goldblum, reassembling the iconic trio from Jurassic Park almost 30 years after they first made box office history.
Of course not everything shot for this latest walk in the Jurassic Park could fit, despite Dominion holding the franchise record for runtime. If we’re lucky, maybe some of these alternate takes will end up on the deleted scenes section of the home video release, or even an awesome blooper reel. For now, if you’re excited about this new adventure 65 million years in the making, Jurassic World: Dominion will be open in early showings starting Thursday.
