Laura Dern Comments On Controversial 21 Year Age Gap With Sam Neill In ‘Jurassic Park’

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Laura Dern looked back on the love story between her and her ‘Jurassic Park’ co-star Sam Neill when she was 23 and he was 44 as they chatted about the 1993 film in a joint interview.

Laura Dern, 55, never realized how far apart in age she and her former co-star Sam Neill were at the time of their on-screen romance in Jurassic Park. The actress was 23 while the now 74-year-old actor was 44 at the time they shot the 1993 film, which was directed by Steven Spielberg, and she admitted she felt it was “was completely appropriate” for them to “fall in love,” in a new joint interview the on-screen couple had with The Sunday Times. “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?’” she said.

Sam, who said Laura was “a tender age” when acting in the adventurous film, also commented on the age difference, in the interview. “I am 20 years older than Laura…Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady,” he told the outlet. “It never occurred to me until I opened a magazine and there was an article called ‘Old geezers and gals’. People like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery acting with much younger people. And there I was, on the list.”

Laura and Sam’s comments come as they promote their upcoming film, Jurassic World Dominion, in which they’re reprising their roles of Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant from the original Jurassic Park film franchise. Their characters will come face to face after all these years and reportedly have a new challenge to face together as they work alongside their old friend Ian Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum. The duo also starred in the third installment of the film, Jurassic Park III, in 1997.

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Another big name starring alongside Laura and Sam in the upcoming sequel to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is Chris Pratt, who also starred in the first 2018 film. He plays Owen Grady alongside Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays an ex Jurassic Park operations manager Claire Dearing. The talented celeb talked about whether or not another Jurassic film will happen in the future and compared it to the Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame films, in a recent interview with ComicBook.com.

“I think maybe Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame is a similar comp because you’ve got whatever that was … 10 years, 20-something films,” he said. “All of these characters each had their own stories, their own trilogies, coming together. And you’re like, ‘This is wild.’ You’ve seen these worlds collide. It feels the same way.

“You’ve got the Jurassic Park trilogy. You’ve got the Jurassic World trilogy, and it’s this big epic conclusion. Now, at the end of Avengers … They’ve continued to make these Marvel films, but that does feel like a phase that is over. It’s rolled over into a new phase, you know?” he concluded.

Jurassic World Dominion will be released on June 9, 2022.