Laura Dern (55) and Sam Neill (74) will reprise their roles as Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World: Dominion, the next episode in the Jurassic Park franchise. After 21 years apart, the two actors startled fans with a recent age reveal ahead of their on-screen reunion.
In a recent interview, the two actors remarked on their 19-year age disparity, which seemed “perfectly right” to the two during the filming of the first two films of the original trilogy. Neill claimed that the age difference between him and Dern had never occurred to him until he read about it in a magazine. While the performers commented about their age disparity, it seems that their characters in the series have a considerably smaller difference in their ages. A small relationship between Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant was hinted at in the first Jurassic Park film. During the making of the first picture, Sam Neill was reputedly 44, while Dern was just 23.
What did Jurassic World: Dominion co-stars Sam Neill and Laura Dern say about the age gap?
Sam Neill said in the interview:
“Laura was a young girl. I’m assuming 23. I am 20 (19) years older than Laura, which was a perfectly acceptable age gap for a prominent man and woman at the time!”
He then stated how he never sensed the age difference between the two until he opened a magazine and discovered an item headed “Old geezers and women.” As per Sam Neill’s assertions, the work included the likes of Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, who played alongside much younger ladies. The actor from New Zealand was startled to discover himself on the list. While Sam Neill’s age difference with Laura Dern was 19 years, Sean Connery’s age difference with Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1999’s Entrapment was 39 years. Meanwhile, in 1998’s Six Days, Seven Nights, Harrison Ford and Anne Heche had a 26-year age difference. Ford and his wife, Calista Flockhart, have a 22-year age gap.
Laura Dern discusses the age difference with Sam Neill
During the interview, she stated:
“It seemed entirely natural to fall in love with Sam Neill. And it wasn’t until we returned at a period of cultural awareness about sexism that I realized, ‘Wow! We’re not the same age?'”
However, Sam Neill is not the only aging actor with whom Laura Dern has shared a screen. Dern appeared in the 2016 film The Founder as the wife of Ray Croc, played by Michael Keaton, who was 15 years her senior.
The age difference between Laura Dern and Sam Neill astonished internet users.
Fans of the Jurassic Park franchise were taken aback by the latest discovery of Neill and Dern’s age disparity. While many Twitter users were astonished to hear the actress’s real age during the making of Jurassic Park, many were stunned to find that Neill is 74. Others, however, said that Dern seemed much older than she was. Several tweets also suggested that Dern’s Ellie Sattler seemed to be five years younger than Neill’s Alan Grant. However, others speculated that the age disparity was deliberate. Throughout the film, it is implied that Neill’s character is out of touch with technology and other improvements.
No way was she 23! They both looked a similar age
— Michael Robson (@ajrobson) May 22, 2022
Not that it should matter but I don’t think their age is discussed in the movie, and because I am a nerd & have read the books, Dr. Alan Grant is 40 & Dr. Ellie Sattler is in her late 20s. The movie wasn’t about the characters Sam Neill & Laura Dern, it was about Grant & Sattler. https://t.co/JFXpYIR7cL
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) May 22, 2022
