Jurassic Park Cast: Surprising Fates and Losses

The sudden passing of Jurassic Park legend shocked the movie world, after he was

It was announced on Monday that the star had passed away just months after he revealed he was 'cancer-free' following a long battle with a type of blood .

Sam was part of the original star-studded cast of Jurassic Park with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

The late New Zealand star quickly became a household name when he appeared in the 1993 classic, before launching into global fame in The Piano.

He played the dependable palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant for three sequels: Jurassic Park (1993), Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

's blockbuster dinosaurs franchise catapulted the many careers of then-little-known stars.

Jurassic Park, which ran in theatres for almost 500 days and grossed a total of $912million (£680million) worldwide, captivated audiences around the globe and launched the modern blockbuster franchise. 

And three decades after fans were first introduced to movie, the trajectories of the original cast have varied widely.

Sam Neill

On Monday, it was revealed that the late actor was taken to hospital in before his 'sudden and unexpected' death.

In his final Instagram post, Sam looked happy and healthy as he attended the Aria Hall Of Fame Awards with Australian singer Kate Ceberano and singer Jenny Morris. 

In confirming his death, Sam's family's statement read: 'It is with immense sadness that the whānau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia...

'Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life... The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free...

'They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent's Private Hospital for their incredible care... More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.' [sic]

In April, Neill announced tests had found he was cancer free.

In an interview with Channel Seven, Neill detailed how close he came to death after chemotherapy stopped working. A costly, cutting-edge treatment prolonged his life.

Neill said: 'I've been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business, but it was keeping me alive.

'Then the chemo stopped working. I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn't ideal obviously.'

In recent years, Neill had been living far from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and the glare of the cameras, tending to the grapes on his vineyard in the Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.

He opened Two Paddocks in 1993 and the winery quickly became renowned for its Pinot Noir – a lightly spiced, red wine.

While known for its Pinot, the label also has a reputation for producing high-quality Riesling.

The business started life as a simple five-acre planting, but expanded to encompass four vineyard sites.

Aside from his impressive vineyards, Neill owned the Redbank Farm, which housed a menagerie of animals.

Neill shares a son, Tim, 42, with New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow, to whom he was married between 1980 and 1989.

The star was married to Japanese makeup artist Noriko Watanabe from 1989 to 2017 and they share a daughter, Elena, 35. He also adopted Noriko's daughter from her first marriage, Maiko.

Neill also had a son, Andrew, who was placed for adoption when the actor was in his early twenties.

The father and son found each other and reunited in 1994, with Andrew very much a part of the family in later years.

Neill recently worked on Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort, both of which are now set to be released posthumously in 2027.

On the small screen, he appeared in episodes of The Simpsons, Peaky Blinders, The Tudors and The Twelve.

Laura Dern

Laura, 59, has had a glittering career since playing paleobotanist heroine Dr Ellie Sattler in the blockbuster.

She first gained recognition when she starred in cult classic Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart.

It wasn't long before she reached global stardom in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park in 1993.

Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, she continued to show off her acting chops in films like Inland Empire (2006) and Wild (2014).

Her career then experienced a resurgence in 2017. She was already on the adult animated comedy F is for Family but that year she joined the TV hit Big Little Lies and well as the Twin Peaks revival.

She appeared in The Last Jedi that year. Two years later, she appeared in 2019 Oscar-nominated films Marriage Story and Little Women.

Just like her late Jurassic Park co-star Sam, Laura has appeared in the same three movies.

She was just 23 years old, while Neill was 43 when filming for the iconic franchise started. 

Laura previously said the 20-year age gap with Sam felt 'completely appropriate' when discussing their characters' romance.

After her Jurassic Park days, Laura struck up a romance with her co-star Jeff Goldblum from 1992 to 1997.

She was previously engaged to Billy Bob Thornton before his marriage to Angelina Jolie.

Laura later married musician Ben Harper in 2005 and divorced in 2013. The former couple share son Ellery, 25, and daughter Jaya, 22. 

The award-winning actress is currently shooting series four of The White Lotus, after she was drafted in to replace Helena Bonham Carter.

Jeff Goldblum

From dazzling audiences in the eighties and nineties, Jeff is still enchanting viewers to this day. 

Jeff, 73, played Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park saga. His character was hired by John Hammond as a financial consultant to give an evaluation of his dinosaur park. 

Like his co-stars, Jurassic Park was his big break. 

In between filming Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, he filmed Independence Day (1996) which had enough of a following to inspire the sequel Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).

In the early 2000s, he booked several TV shows including the lead in the 2007 TV series Raines and Zack Nichols in Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

He quickly became revered as a character actor, becoming a regular in Wes Anderson's films including The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Isle of Dogs (2018).

He went on to play a variety of characters in the TV series Portlandia and landing roles like Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok, Balmur in Dark Dice and Tunnel in Search Party.

The Emmy nominee's latest role as the Wizard of Oz in the blockbuster Wicked movies brought him a major wave of renewed visibility in the last few years.

His casting in the franchise - alongside Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey - saw him 'pinching himself everyday' and bursting with pride.

Nowadays, you will find Jeff spending time with his family and performing jazz with his band.

Jeff shares two sons Charlie, 10, and River Joe, eight, with his 43-year-old wife Emilie Livingston. 

The trained pianist ventured into the world of professional jazz with his band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra and have performed on huge stages including Glastonbury.

Ariana Richards 

Ariana, now 46, was just 12 years old when she made waves thanks to her role as Lex Murphy in the original flick. 

Despite gaining widespread stardom in her debut role, Ariana has since quit the spotlight entirely. 

The former actress, whose last acting gig was in 2013's Battledogs, is now a successful artist. 

Ariana found that juggling acting and visual art became impossible and ultimately decided to devote her time to painting, which she considers her true passion.

As an artist, Richards paints portraits, landscapes, and in a nod to her past has even depicted dinosaurs in her work. 

After her award-winning stint in Jurassic Park, Ariana earned a degree in Fine Art and Drama from Skidmore College. 

In an interview in 2013, she said: 'I like to paint people out in locations they really enjoy doing something spontaneous.

'I enjoy getting to know what people's essence is like.' 

Ariana returned to Hollywood in 2022 to make a surprise appearance on the red carpet at the Jurassic World: Dominion premiere. 

She once told Radio Times her audition for the film that made her a household name was the 'weirdest' she'd ever done in her career. 

The casting director asked her to 'let loose' and pretend she was being chased and attacked by a dinosaur, she revealed. 

Ariana wed Mark Aaron Bolton in Oregon in January 2013 and the couple went on to have a daughter who was born in 2015. 

Joseph Mazzello 

Joseph, 42, was just ten years old when he starred in Jurassic Park in 1993, in which his role as Lex's younger brother launched his career.

He also briefly played Tim again briefly in The Lost World (1997).

After Jurassic, Joseph took on impressive roles in Hollywood, including portraying Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz in The Social Network (2010).

Joseph's latest movie role saw him star in the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody.

The actor portrayed John Deacon, who is best known for having been the bass guitarist in the rock band Queen, in the biopic.

Samuel L Jackson

is now one of the biggest actors of all time, but was a relatively unknown name in Hollywood when he portrayed chief park engineer Ray Arnold in Jurassic Park.

His character was killed by a raptor as he tried to restore power to the theme park.

However, Mr Arnold's death was not the end for Samuel.

After Jurassic Park he had his first big break while appearing in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He has starred in various films including Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004), Django Unchained (2012), Snakes on a Plane (2006), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and more.

He also became a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in several films and TV series as Nick Fury. 

Samuel, now 77, is now known to be one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

BD Wong

BD Wong, 65, portrayed the chief geneticist at Jurassic Park who oversaw the creation of all park dinosaurs.

But in the Jurassic World franchise, the latter instalments of the Jurassic films, Dr Wu was stripped of his doctorate after he created the Indominus rex - a hybrid T. rex/Velociraptor.

Dr Wu continued to conduct dinosaur research and engineered the devastating Giganotosaurus in Jurassic World: Dominion (2022).

In addition to his reoccurring roles in the Jurassic franchise, BD has held several other roles.

He portrayed a mad scientist on popular TV programme Gotham and appeared in Mr Robot, The Flash and Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.

BD is best known for his roles as Dr. George Huang on , Father Ray Mukada on HBO's Oz, and for starring as Song Liling, the lead in the Broadway production of M Butterfly.

Wayne Knight

Before Jurassic Park, , 70, was best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's nemesis, mailman Newman, in the beloved sitcom Seinfeld.

He had also portrayed a detective in Basic Instinct (1992) during Sharon Stone's famous leg-crossing scene, which is regarded as one of the most notorious scenes in American cinema.

Wayne's participation in the Jurassic franchise was short lived, unfortunately. 

His character - park computer programmer Dennis Nedry - was eaten by a Dilophosaurus after he stole dinosaur embryos.

After Jurassic Park, he appeared in Space Jam (1996) and TV programmes 3rd Rock from the Sun, Hot in Cleveland and Torchwood.

He also appeared on Narcos and voiced the Penguin on Harley Quinn, HBO's animated series about the DC Comics character who fell in love with the Joker. 

Richard Attenborough

The late , who died aged 90 in 2014, portrayed Jurassic Park creator John Hammond in the beloved film.

He was one of Britain's leading actors, before becoming a highly successful director.

The brother of Sir David Attenborough - hailed by BAFTA as 'a titan of British cinema' - appeared in films including Brighton Rock (1948) and World War Two thriller The Great Escape (1963).

During his 60-year career, he gathered 74 acting credits after appearing in 1942 war film In Which We Serve, directed by Noel Coward.

He also starred in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Elizabeth (1998) and Flight of the Phoenix (1965).

He made his directorial debut with 1969 musical Oh! What a Lovely War, following it up with Oscar-winning epic Gandhi in 1982.