Upon looking back at the first Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm's lovable zingers delivered by actor Jeff Goldblum are some of the most memorable lines in the '90s classic. However, while Jurassic Park was in development, his character was almost cut from the film, with legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg originally cautioning Goldblum of the possible changes to the blockbuster hit. Although imagining a strange alternative reality where Goldblum's iconic shirtless scene (among other moments) never existed isn't something anyone should contemplate, the actor revealed his close call. In his words:
When I first met Steven Spielberg at Amblin, he came in and said, 'You know, there's a movement afoot, a new rewrite is happening, and your character, Ian Malcolm, is being written out. We probably wanna give these funny lines and kinda incorporate your character into the Sam Neill character.' I was just thrilled to be there and trusted that [Spielberg] would do something great.
Thankfully Steven Spielberg made the right decision and kept Dr. Ian Malcolm in, because Jurassic Park might not have been celebrated without the eccentric flavor Jeff Goldblum brought to the dinosaur film. In one of the special features accompanying the home release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (via Game Spot) called "Fallen Kingdom: The Conversation," Jeff Goldblum explained this beside stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, writer and executive producer Colin Trevorrow and director J.A. Bayona, and Howard's jaw literally dropped during his recount. Goldblum said he tried to make the case for the addition of Dr. Malcolm in Jurassic Park, but he doesn't think it made a difference to their final decision to keep him in the movie.
Dr. Ian Malcolm has always been a fan favorite in the Jurassic Park franchise, as he also appeared in Jurassic Park: The Lost World and. Thanks to his Fallen Kingdom appearance, he became only the second original character to appear in the new Jurassic World franchise, with B.D. Wong's Dr. Henry Wu bring the first. Dr. Malcolm only had a small role in Fallen Kingdom, disappointing some fans who might have been reeled in by his return, but it does open up potential for the character to make his way into Jurassic World 3 if there ends up being room in the script and if he agrees to do so.
The special feature also revealed that in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jeff Goldblum returned as Dr. Ian Malcolm in a small role meant to deliver dialogue that primarily came out of author Michael Crichton in the Jurassic Park book, to tie in the original message into the new franchise. As his character is so loved that a 25-foot statue of Dr. Malcolm was created in his honor in London, we'd love to see him have a larger role in the upcoming Jurassic World films. Fallen Kingdom is available on digital now and will be released on Blu-ray September 18.
