Where are the cast of Jurassic Park now 30 years later?

10 June 2022, 12:10 | Updated: 12 July 2023, 10:40

Jurassic Park was the highest-grossing film of all time upon its release in 1993, and made us all get fascinated with dinosaurs once more.

Steven Spielberg's thriller-horror-adventure masterpiece made us never look at a plastic cup of water in the same way again.

Based on the novel by Michael Crichton novel, it was a massive success in 1993, and has since spawned five sequels.

With original stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum returning in Jurassic World: Dominion, let's take a look back at the film's leading actors to see what they did next.

Sadly, we have since lost the talents of Lord Richard Attenborough (John Hammond) and Bob Peck (Robert Muldoon), but what have their co-stars been up to in recent years?

1. Sam Neill (Dr Alan Grant)

   

   New Zealand star Sam Neill was a well-known actor when he appeared in Jurassic Park, but he won himself a new fanbase playing the dependable Dr Alan Grant, a palaeontologist who is invited to see John Hammond's new park.

   He was actually a one-time contender to play James Bond back in the day!

   After Jurassic Park, Sam had roles in Event Horizon, The Tudors and Peaky Blinders. He also returned to the Jurassic Park franchise as Grant in 2001's Jurassic Park III.

   In 2016, he appeared in Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople and two years later he played Mr McGregor in Peter Rabbit.

2. Laura Dern (Dr Ellie Sattler)

   

   Before Jurassic Park, Laura Dern had starred in films like Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart.

   The year before, she had her first Oscar nomination for Rambling Rose, and following the dinosaur epic she starred in Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World, October Sky, The Fault in Our Stars and Wild (which earned her a second Oscar nomination).

   She also headed up the resistance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and has won plaudits for her roles in Big Little Lies, Marriage Story and Little Women.

3. Jeff Goldblum (Dr Ian Malcolm)

   

   There's only one Jeff Goldblum.

   Before playing the super smooth chaos theorist Ian Malcolm, he had found fame for his quirky roles such as in David Cronenberg's The Fly.

   He has become something of an international treasure over the years since Jurassic Park, thanks to a wide variety of roles including Wes Anderson films Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs.

   He followed Jurassic Park with another massive blockbuster in the shape of Independence Day, and had the lead role in sequel The Lost World in 1997. More recently, Jeff also joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Grandmaster, in Thor: Ragnarok.

   Jeff also found time to release his first album. His jazz band, Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, released The Capitol Studios Sessions, in 2018.

4. Joseph Mazzello (Tim Murphy)

   

   After Jurassic Park, child actor Joseph Mazzello played Tim again briefly in The Lost World.

   After a few quiet years, Joseph has made an impressive acting career, and has more than shaken off his 'child star' status.

   Joseph has had impressive supporting roles in The Social Network and the Spielberg-produced TV show The Pacific.

   More recently, you probably know Joseph best for playing Queen bassist John Deacon in the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

5. Ariana Richards (Lex Murphy)

   

   After facing off against the T-Rex with her on-screen younger brother as Lex, Ariana largely moved away from acting after being a rather prolific child star.

   She's now a successful painter living in Salem, Oregon, and you can actually view her work at website Gallery Ariana.

   Ariana still takes part in Jurassic Park-related events, and appeared at a Fallen Kingdom premiere.

6. Samuel L Jackson (Ray Arnold)

   

   Where do you start with Samuel L Jackson? He's now one of the biggest Hollywood actors of all time, but he was relatively unknown to audiences when he played Jurassic Park's chief engineer Ray Arnold, the year before he finally made it big with Pulp Fiction.

   Since then, he has starred in almost countless movies, including Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Vol 2, Django Unchained, Snakes on a Plane, Kingsman: The Secret Service, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Die Hard with a Vengeance and many more.

   Samuel has also played Nick Fury in many MCU films and TV shows, and is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

7. Wayne Knight (Dennis Nedry)

   

   Before Jurassic Park, Wayne Knight was best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's sitcom baddie in Seinfeld, and as a cop during Sharon Stone's famous leg-crossing scene in Basic Instinct.

   Following his famous role as naughty tech architect Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, he appeared in Space Jam, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Hot in Cleveland and Torchwood.