How many times must Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm warn us about the dangers of the dinosaurs?
The actor, who returns as the mathematician and onscreen Cassandra in “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” said his character will continue to shed his wisdom about the dangers of messing with nature — and dinosaur DNA — until the message sinks in.
“I’ll just keep doing my best,” Goldblum told TheWrap.
“Even though he’s got some inner prowess that he’s earned — he’s not only gifted but he’s worked very hard and he’s been passionate about his choices, his specialties, and principles — but he knows that in our world, even Isaac Newton and Al Gore and Barack Obama and wise people of great honesty and authenticity do not get listened to here and there and their warnings get ignored,” Goldblum said of his character.
In 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” Ian raised skepticism about the park’s ability to control the dinosaurs they were breeding while everyone else was in awe at what the scientists had achieved.
After barely escaping the wrath of a T-Rex, Ian tried to tell the world about his experience but was shot down. Ian specialized in the “chaos theory” — predicting that the island would behave in “unpredictable fashion” and that it was “an accident waiting to happen.”
He’s repeated the message in multiple sequels, including the new “Fallen Kingdom.”
“It’s my pleasure to continue to try to hone my ability to communicate and articulate clearly and concisely what I strongly believe about the alignment of nature and ideas of anti-greed and anti-militarism and a planet that works for all of us and all creatures,” Goldblum said, whose appearance in “Fallen Kingdom” may be disappointingly brief to many fans.
“I don’t need a lot of time,” the actor said noting that despite his limited screen time, he nonetheless brought a level of preparation that suggested a much beefier role. “I shot one day, one work day, but I’m nothing short of conscientious,” he said.
“I started work on it a couple months before because even it’s little screen time, no kidding aside, I believe in the credo that it’s not how much time you have on stage but the substantial substance of your inner thinking and feeling life and the eloquentness of what you can say,” he said. “I knew there would be a lot on the underside of the iceberg potentially so I worked on it.”
He explained that producer Colin Trevorrow and director J.A. Bayona helped him to finesse the work he had been doing, and that it was all a collaboration.
“And then I got on the set, shot that day and then they helped me tremendously in the editing, and I couldn’t be more proud,” Goldblum said.
When asked what his favorite move in the “Jurassic” franchise has been, he said, “Not just because I am on the current appointed team of advocacy, this one is pretty crackerjack. The technology that creates the illusion of the creatures has improved, they are more wondrous and scary and the way they keep you on the edge of your seat, and the way it becomes this gothic horror movie stylistically… and then of course, I like the first one a lot, because I’m nostalgic!”
“Fallen Kingdom” also stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, B. D. Wong and Rafe Spall. Derek Connolly and Trevorrow wrote the script.