Jeff Goldblum on Thor: Ragnarok and returning to the world of Jurassic Park

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Jeff Goldblum is always a complete and utter pleasure to watch, even when he's just being Jeff Goldblum, hell, who are we kidding, especially when he's just being Jeff Goldblum. The actor has several big projects on the horizon, including the upcoming THOR: RAGNAROK in which he plays the Grandmaster and a return to the world of JURASSIC PARK which will see him reprise his role of Dr. Ian Malcolm for JURASSIC WORLD 2.

Jeff Goldblum spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the two upcoming projects, and we'll begin with THOR: RAGNAROK, which represents Goldblum's first foray into the world of superheroes. The actor was asked what it was like to take part in one of Marvel's giant movies as well as working with THOR: RAGNAROK director Taika Waititi.

I enjoyed it. I didn’t have scenes with Cate Blanchett, but she was in The Life Aquatic, of course, so we’d been in touch, and I’ve seen her since. I just adore her, so it was great to be in another movie with her, even just by association. The other Hemsworth brother, that now makes two for me, and he couldn’t have been sweeter or more down-to-earth, like the whole family. What I particularly loved is the director, Taika Waititi. He really got me involved in this because I’m a fan of his, from Flight of the Conchords and all his movies, not only Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy but especially What We Do In the Shadows. When we first talked, he said, “I want you to do your particular version of this character without being comic-y or grandiloquent. I think you should do something that’s in your creative family tree. And also improvise.” He was very interested in improvisation. We came to all those scenes and riffed enjoyably for the time we had. I don’t know what’s gonna come out in the mix because we gave him a whole bunch of different choices, I’ll tell you that. He’s great. Taika Waititi gets 10 Goldblums out of a possible 10 Goldblums.

Jeff Goldblum's character of the Grandmaster is fascinated with gaming and chance and is the ruler of the planet Sakaar, which is where Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself forced to do battle with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). One of his next roles will see Goldblum return to the realm of Earth to reprise the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm, who was last seen in THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK. The actor is set to head off to London in a few weeks, where JURASSIC WORLD 2 director J.A. Bayona has already been hard at work on the sequel.

I’ll try to contribute something to the plate of dino-entertainment. I like my character. I think my character is a saucy, sassy man of some integrity and deep thinking. And of course, that whole world continues to be popular, slam-bang, top entertainment. I talked to the director, J.A. Bayona, over the phone. I enjoyed his movie The Impossible with Naomi Watts, and he’s something else. I didn’t realize he was a good friend of a friend of mine, a director I worked with a while ago in Spain named Fernando Trueba, who’s just fantastic. Knowing that the two of them are brethren and brotherly in their friendship makes me feel very good, too. Even though some might say it’s popcorn-y entertainment (top-notch, of course), in our conversation he was very focused on the serious issues of greed as it oftentimes comes up in those movies, and the marvels of science and reason and the very fascinating point at which our species finds itself both in real life and in this imaginary world too. I’m very interested in that myself, so I’m looking forward to this. I’ve got a few things to do. I’m nothing if not conscientious, so I’m enjoying working on it every day.

THOR: RAGNAROK is set for a November 3, 2017 release and will be followed by JURASSIC WORLD 2 on June 22, 2018.