Stars Of Jurassic Park: Then And Now

So true to predictions – but actually exceeding most – ‘Jurassic World’ has stormed to a record-breaking worldwide box office success, earning over $500 million in its opening weekend.

But if you’ll recall, the original movie didn’t do too shabbily either.

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It made over $1 billion in all, surpassing Spielberg’s previous box office benchmark 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’, and making it the highest-grossing film worldwide until it was knocked off its perch by 'Titanic’ in 1997.

But where are its stars now? Let’s have a dig about…

Sam Neill

Sam Neill was pitched perfectly as palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant, all gruff and grave, but with a heart of gold in there somewhere. Obviously Mr Neill remains a sizeable star, appearing in all three 'JP’ movies (for his sins), along with the likes of 'Event Horizon’ and 'Bicentennial Man’. He also pitched up in 'The Tudors’, and BBC series 'Peaky Blinders’.

Laura Dern

Academy Award-winner Dern was probably best known for her work with David Lynch in 'Blue Velvet’ and 'Wild At Heart’ before she went mainstream as paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler. Since 'Jurassic Park’ and its sequels (for her sins too), she’s made sterling work like 'The Fault In Our Stars’, 'The Master’, 'Wild’, and is currently making 'The Founder’, the hotly-tipped biopic about Ray Kroc, who acquired McDonalds. She plays Ethel Fleming, the wife of Kroc, played by Michael Keaton, alongside Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch as the McDonald brothers.

Jeff Goldblum

Since Goldblum’s dalliances with blockbusters in 'Jurassic Park’ (he also appeared in 'The Lost World’ but not 'Jurassic Park III’, playing suave maths don Dr. Ian Malcolm) and 'Independence Day’, he’s consciously ducked out of the mainstream, appearing in Wes Anderson’s movies ('The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou’ and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel’), as well as indie flicks like 'Igby Goes Down’. He’s next up back in 'Independence Day 2’, mind you.

Richard Attenborough

Lord Attenborough – aka Jurassic Park founder John 'Spared No Expense’ Hammond – sadly passed away in August 2013, leaving behind him a breathtaking movie career both in front of and behind the camera with films like 'A Bridge Too Far’ and 'Gandhi’. A true movie legend.

Ariana Richards

Child actress Ariana Richards, famed for that wide-eyed terror while eating lime jelly, had already appeared in plenty of stuff before playing Lex Murphy, Hammond’s granddaughter, including 'Tremors’, 'I’m Gonna Git You Sucka’ and 'The Golden Girls’. She appeared in 'The Lost World’, but wound down her acting in favour of pursuing art. She is now a successful painter – in the style of the impressionists - and a sometime singer too, living in Oregon.

Joseph Mazzello

Mazzello played Lex’s brother Tim in the first 'Jurassic Park’, and then again in 'The Lost World’. He has continued to act ever since. He was excellent in HBO’s superb 'The Pacific’, the companion piece to 'Band of Brothers’ in 2010, and played Facebook co-founder Dustin Muskovitz in Fincher’s 'The Social Network’ that same year. He is making his directorial debut with 'Undrafted’, a comedy-drama based on his brother’s experiences being passed over in the major league baseball drafts.

Wayne Knight

Knight played the slobbish Dennis Nedry, thorn in the side of John Hammond and the snake in the grass at Jurassic Park who attempted to sell off the dino DNA to a competitor, and in doing so caused the whole park meltdown. He got his comeuppance though. Latterly he’s played Al McWhiggin, the toy collector in 'Toy Story 2’, and a wealth of other animation voice roles including 'Kung Fu Panda’, 'Tarzan’ and 'Scooby-Doo’. He’s also appeared on TV shows like 'Torchwood’, 'Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and the amazing 'Regular Show’.

Samuel L. Jackson

Jackson had snagged a few key roles in movies like 'Do The Right’ and 'Goodfellas’ before playing chain-smoking chief engineer Ray Arnold. A year later, he appeared in 'Pulp Fiction’, and that was that. He’s now among the most prolific actors in Hollywood, last year playing lisping bad guy Richmond Valentine in 'Kingsman’. He’s next up in 'Hateful Eight’, Tarantino’s new western, and Spike Lee’s next one 'Chiraq’.

Bob Peck

Bob Peck stole the show with his role as game expert Muldoon. His line 'clever girl’ when hunted down by a pack of raptors is perhaps the film’s most memorable. A regular with the RSC alongside the likes of Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, he had a prolific stage and TV career, continuing after 'Jurassic Park’. Sadly, he died after a battle with cancer in 1999, aged just 53.

Image credits: Universal/Rex Features/Getty/PA/ET