Jurassic Park: Laura Dern & Sam Neill speak on if their 20-year-age gap romance was appropriate at the time

The release of Jurassic World Dominion is upon us and it will see the return of original Jurassic Park stars, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum. Due to a recent interview with The Sunday Times, the internet seemed shocked to realize that Laura Dern was 23 in the 1993 film while Sam Neill, who played her on-screen love interest, was 20-years her senior. As the internet continues to show its shock, Dern and Neill are revealing that no one batted an eye at the age difference then but it is something that might have been addressed if the movie were made today.

Sam Neill, now 74, said that the 20-year age gap “at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady.” It was only years later that his a-ha moment came after seeing an article about older male actors and their younger female co-stars in which he was included along with Dern. He said, “I opened a magazine and there was an article called ‘Old Geezers and Gals. It included “people like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery acting with much younger people. And there I was, on the list. I thought, ‘Come on. It can’t be true.’” And then the actor says he realized, “I am 20 years older than Laura!”

Laura Dern, now 55 and no stranger to calling out for gender equality, also admits that she didn’t realize the age difference at first. Dern said, “Well, it felt completely appropriate to fall in love with Sam Neill. 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?” Dern also points out that she has observed over the years that her character, paleobotanist Dr. Elllie Sattler, was more than window dressing in the film. The actress didn’t always see the power imbalance related to the age difference between Dr. Sattler and Sam Neill’s paleontologist Alan Grant but she was proud that the character didn’t conform to the patriarchy. Back in 2017, during an interview with WWD, Dern spoke on that very notion:

“There was a rather feminist line in response to something Jeff Goldblum says about ‘man creates dinosaurs, and dinosaurs eat man.’ Something like that. And then I look back and say the line, ‘Yeah – and woman inherits the earth,’ and that was such a big deal. It was like here it is, we’re in this formulaic, big movie and it’s this fabulous, fun, feminist moment.”

The funny thing about this latest interview is that the internet appears shocked that Laura Dern was that young in the first Jurassic Park. Sometimes social media is legit shaken by certain news and this is one of those moments. You can check out some of the social media reactions below! Also, for those wondering about the math, Laura Dern was born in 1967, which would make her 25 while filming Jurassic Park, I do believe, but Dern herself is saying 23 and at this point, it’s just splitting hairs. Whether it’s 23 or 25, I personally didn’t even think about how old she was across the many times I’ve seen the movie.

You can see Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and the rest of the gang when Jurassic World Dominion opens on June 10, 2022. What are YOUR thoughts on the age gap between Laura Dern and Sam Neill in Jurassic Park?