Twitter Can't Get Over Laura Dern's Age In 'Jurassic Park'
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Actor Laura Dern says she was 23 years old when she did “Jurassic Park,” released in 1993. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) - Share via Close extra sharing options
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Laura Dern says she was 23 years old in “Jurassic Park.” And everyone else was today years old when they found out about it.
The internet went into a collective state of shock this weekend after Sam Neill revealed in a recent joint interview with Dern and the Sunday Times that there is a 20-year age gap between him and his “Jurassic Park” co-star. The veteran actors played professional contemporaries and love interests in the classic Steven Spielberg film.
“Laura was a tender age. I’m guessing … 23?” Neill said. Dern promptly confirmed he was right.
Advertisement“She was already an exciting actor — she had done David Lynch films. It was no surprise she was asked. But I was completely baffled to be called by Steven. I didn’t get it.”
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Nov. 26, 2019Surprised? So was Neill, who exclaimed, “I am 20 years older than Laura! ... Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady!” The gap hadn’t struck him until relatively recently, he said, when he 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.”
Neill, now 74, was stunned to find his name under the “old geezers” column opposite Dern, 55: “I thought, ‘Come on,’” he added. “‘It can’t be true.’” After years of pre-production, production and post-production, “Jurassic Park” was released on June 11, 1993.
AdvertisementFor what it’s worth, Dern said she was also unaware of their considerable age disparity while making the blockbuster based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name. The Oscar winner and Neill recently reunited to reprise their iconic roles in “Jurassic World Dominion,” coming to theaters June 10.
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Sept. 25, 2019“It felt completely appropriate to fall in love with Sam Neill,” Dern told the Sunday Times. “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?’”
Neill and Dern aren’t the only ones floored by this belated discovery. Plenty of “Jurassic Park” fans also couldn’t get over the fact that the woman cast as Dr. Ellie Sattler — a leading paleobotanist — was evidently closer in age to the children in the movie than her onscreen partner.
“I don’t mean to be a jerk. But I never would have guessed Laura Dern was 23 in Jurassic Park,” tweeted video creator Lauren Chen. “I honestly thought she was like 5-ish years younger than Sam Neill. Also her character has a phd! I guarantee no one saw the film and thought ‘wow what an inappropriate age gap.’”
“My timeline is nothing but Wordle scores and people finding out Laura Dern was 23 when ‘Jurassic Park’ was filmed,” tweeted writer Charlotte Clymer.
See other incredulous reactions to Dern and Neill’s interview below.
Laura Dern was only 23 when they made Jurassic Park? I figured she was doing her own research on paleobotany, otherwise why the hell would she be on a dig with Sam Neil? A tenured paleobotanist at an institution would be in their mid-30s, no?
— Iscah Lee (@ScorpioUndone) May 22, 2022"Laura Dern was 23 when she starred in Jurassic Park with Sam Neill" has blown my head clean off todayhttps://t.co/sRd1Ib3qrg
— ཊལབསརངཧ (@David_Rudnick) May 22, 2022I refuse to accept that Laura Dern was 23 in Jurassic Park. No way.
— Alessandra (@alessandra_kr) May 22, 2022Laura Dern was born 35, she was 35 in Jurassic Park and she’s still 35 today
— Dumb Beezie (@dumbbeezie) May 22, 2022wish i could have an inappropriate age gap relationship with her 😔
— thot choc (@shreyabasu003) May 22, 2022It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that Laura Dern is 23 in Jurassic Park because to me she was a capital A adult in that movie, perhaps even up to 50 years old
— Cam (@stingo__cam) May 22, 2022yep. Older men with much younger leading ladies is a thing and why? The actors start out the same age and then the women age and become the moms while the men continue to cast as leading men with love interests young enough to be their daughters. +-5 is what I want to see. https://t.co/34ZbOQI6qn
— Maya (@mayak46) May 22, 2022people being shocked at Miss Dern being 23 like it wasn’t the 90s https://t.co/r66ZNXGoil
— Candice/Nova ✨🏳️🌈😷 (@Cartoonie12) May 22, 2022I’m gonna be completely honest, I thought the both of them were in their thirties when I saw the movie https://t.co/q37Cox0FkU
— Let’s Talk Plastic Man🌻(Neil) (@PlasticManTalk) May 22, 2022Today I learned that Laura Dern was only 23 in Jurassic Park.... ummm. Fascinating.
— roxane gay (@rgay) May 22, 2022More to Read
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Christi Carras Former staff writer Christi Carras reported on the entertainment industry for the Los Angeles Times. She previously covered entertainment news for The Times after graduating from UCLA and working at Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and CNN Newsource.
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