BEVERLY HILLS, July 9, 2001 — Man creates dinosaurs … dinosaurs eat man … man fights back … dinosaurs eat more man …
And four years later, what do you know? Man is back.
But before you dismiss Jurassic Park III as another candidate for the Sequel Overkill department, consider its pedigree. Sam Neill reprises his role from the first Park (as does Laura Dern, albeit in a cameo) and eclectic actors such as William H Macy and Téa Leoni are on board. Moreover, Steven Spielberg has handed the reins to Joe Johnston, a visual-effects art director whose credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark and the original design Yoda and the Iron Giant. Oddly, Johnston’s decision to become a director came via George Lucas, who literally handed Johnston admission and full tuition to the film school at the University of Southern California (Lucas’ alma mater).
So what else is curiously new about this sequel? Instead of a group of explorers, Macy and Leoni play millionaires who lure Dr. Grant (Neill) into giving them an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, the location of The Lost World, in exchange of a generous donation to his Velociraptor research. But when the plane prepares to land, the couple reveal themselves to be the estranged parents of a son (Trevor Morgan) who disappeared while vacationing near the island. And, as predicted, the group soon crosses paths with new creatures, including a Spinosaurus and flying Pteranodons.
After surviving the five-month shoot, cast members Neill [who was phoning from the veranda of his home in Queenstown, New Zealand], Macy and Leoni sat down with Hollywood.com for an amusing chat about why they wanted to hang out with the dinosaurs.
Sam, we missed you in The Lost World. Did you think there was a need for another sequel?
Sam Neill: I thought [The Lost World] was fine, but like you, I missed me in it. [Laughs] I wasn’t entirely happy with what I’d done with the character in the first film. And this time around, I think I got it a bit better. And it was partially why I’d decided I’d come on board for this one.
What didn’t you like?
Neill: There were a couple of points where the character went a bit soft and I thought I could just toughen that up a bit. So he’s more cynical this time, and I think the better for it. It’s the first time I’ve ever done [a sequel]. And I must say it’s quite an interesting thing to do.
Téa Leoni: I don’t think [the series] ended on a good note. I feel like it was two movies [of] people out for an adventure, a joy ride, a joy hunt. This was ready to be made. We needed a cast of characters out there for a real reason.
William H. Macy: At worst it would be another Jurassic Park; at best it would be a great Jurassic Park.
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And is it a great Jurassic Park?
Leoni: I applaud the fact that the thing is less than an hour and a half long. I mean, no kidding. How many times do you go to these movies, like that one that’s three hours long? This movie is not self-indulgent. Which is another thing. These big movies, you ever notice things always end on a huge note? Movies always seem to beautifully build and arrive at some magnificent explosive ending. It’s so cheap. Life doesn’t do it. Do you know what I mean? I kind of love that this film, you don’t breathe for about an hour, it’s just “Run run run, go go go”… it’s finished. I felt like Joe [Johnston] was really ballsy making this movie.
Neill: The dinosaurs are more 3-D and I think the characters are more 3-D this time around. For me, it’s a better-balanced film than the first two.
But there were a lot of rumors about the film being made without a script ready. How’d you pull it off?
Macy: I was recorded as having said I was miserable on the set and it was anarchy, and I’d like to set that straight: I never said that. I did say that, but it wasn’t about this movie. And I won’t tell you which movie, because I’d get in trouble all over again. What I said was, why would they do this? Why would they do a big movie about this without a script? Then I went on to say “Jurassic Park, on the other hand, we had a great time.” I’ve since learned the truth of it, and it’s this: There’s a certain amount of rewriting that has to go on when you get into these big technical things. There’s nothing to be done; that’s the way it has to be. If you have Spinosaurus that’s supposed to bite the head off a T-Rex and it’s technically not working, they have to rewrite.
We’ve heard that most of you signed on because of the eclectic casting choice.
Macy: I think it’s genius casting, if you think about it. You take the kind of roles that I do and the way I look, to put me in this jungle fighting dinosaurs? That’s funny. I think it works like gangbusters.
Leoni: I didn’t know what we were making. But I figured when they brought Joe Johnston and Sam Neill returning, Bill Macy coming in, Michael Jeter — fascinating choice, Alessandro Nivola — interesting choice, and then this hot kid Trevor Morgan, and I’m thinking we’re not just making a third one. We were out to make the best one.
Macy: Laura Dern [who starred in Johnston’s October Sky] basically said, “I’ll break your arm if you don’t say yes to this.” She forced me to pick up the phone and call. She said it would be great for my career, I would love Joe, and I’d have a grand old time. Plus, I’d just had a baby, and the word “tuition” was all I could think of.
All three of you are parents. Do you feel like action heroes to your kids?
Neill: My youngest is 10, and the others were about her age when the first one came out. So they’re excited. It’s cool for them to have an action figure to kind of chew up.
Leoni: They sent me my action figure and they asked me what I thought of it. I said, “What’s up with the hair?” It’s this weird bob that looks a little bit like what Diane Sawyer used to sport when she was a little more stiff … [But] I knew I was gonna be breast appropriate … she had some good knockers. You don’t turn out a female action figure without something to make her female, because you really can’t decipher that you’re female other than whether or not they go with really hot-pink lips … Then it shows up at the press junket; somebody gave me the action figure. She’s got leather gloves and this weird gun that shoots, like, lacrosse sticks. Like that’s gonna help.
Neill: [My kids] know the truth about Dad. Dad’s this guy who can’t fix things and kind of lies around reading books, playing the ukelele.
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Téa is the only female — human, at least — in the film. Did you guys treat her right?
Macy: You could stick her in a prison camp and she would have everyone completely charmed in five minutes. I’ve never seen anyone like her. She charmed this entire set … It’s such a big fat movie, we had drivers. I’d get out and I’d go “Thank you for driving me.” I’d see Téa’s driver, and he’s going off grocery shopping and picking up the baby and washing the car. He was just in love with her.
Now that you’ve completed the third part of one of the most lucrative franchises in movie history, are you in awe of what you did?
Macy: I would do this in a New York minute. If I could choose a career, I’d choose mine. I’m probably gonna be in the biggest movie this summer, knock on wood. Last year I did a play off-Broadway and in London, I did a couple of indies, I did a TV show, and I did Jurassic Park III. What could be better than that?
Neill: Up until you see the whole thing together is when the “wow” thing comes into play. It gets bits and piece-y when you’re shooting it. But certainly I was amazed at what I was seeing when I went to the screening last week. They’re much more sophisticated creatures than they were the first time around.
Macy: I’m signed up for [Jurassic Park] IV. It’s a very small scene, you don’t see it, but I drop my wallet [in this film], so I have an excuse to go back. I’m thinking ahead, always thinking.
But what if there isn’t a fourth?
Macy: [Well,] Téa and I were always rewriting the story in our heads as we went along, thinking we can make a Scary Movie 2 out of this. Like, “What if it was a chicken? A big chicken?”
Jurassic Park III opens July 18.