Jurassic Park ranks easily among the most iconic franchises in the history of global cinema, and also within the repertoire of its director, Steven Spielberg. With a revolutionary and impeccable use of CGI that still stands out to this day, this 1993 film is based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name and features billionaire businessman John Hammond's latest project: a wildlife park of de-extinct dinosaurs located on Isla Nublar. In order to secure the safety certification required by investors before opening, Hammond invites a group of scientists and his own grandchildren to visit the facilities, but after the park's power systems fail allowing the dinosaurs to roam free, all visitors must face the daunting task of making it off the island alive.
The success that this film enjoyed back in the 1990s was overwhelming: not only did it prove to be a hit among critics, but it also managed to run as the top-grossing film ever for four years, until Titanic's release in 1997. The previous film to hold that record was E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, another one of Spielberg's masterpieces. Jurassic Park became a wildly popular production that kicked off a franchise spanning five sequels that is still going strong to this day.
Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello were the actors cast to portray the protagonists of this iconic sci-fi film. Undoubtedly, Jurassic Park also represented a turning point in all of these actors' careers. But, as with most film projects, many other actors auditioned and were offered the chance to join this legendary cast but, for different reasons, ended up not making it. Here are 10 stars who could have starred in Jurassic Park.
Harrison Ford
Sam Neill was the actor chosen to portray paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, a performer who certainly took on the character in the best possible way. And although it is difficult to imagine Jurassic Park without Neill, the story could have gone quite differently, since Spielberg's first choice was actually Harrison Ford. By that time, the actor was already known worldwide for his starring roles in two of the biggest movie franchises: Star Wars and Indiana Jones, in which he worked with Jurassic Park's director.
A third one could have been added to these two franchises, since Harrison was the first actor to be offered the part of Alan Grant, since Spielberg was totally convinced of his potential to play the leading role in this production. However, Ford ended up turning down the role and while the reasons behind his decision are unknown, he may very well have been looking to play other kinds of characters.
Juliette Binoche
French actress and dancer Juliette Binoche was one of the first performers that filmmakers thought of to play paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler after Laura Dern. By that time, she had gained some relevance with films such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Les Amants du Pont-Neuf.
Binoche turned down the director's offer primarily for one reason: she had already committed to Krzysztof Kieślowski to star in the film Three Colours: Blue, the first installment of the Three Colours trilogy. This production, which premiered the same year as Jurassic Park, made Binoche an acclaimed international star. She was also offered a part in Schindler's List, another of Spielberg's films also released in 1993, but she also declined it.
Jim Carrey
The 1990s were quite a momentous decade for actor and comedian Jim Carrey. After starring in the TV series In Living Color for four years, Carrey's career boomed, and by 1994, he was starring in films that are still considered among his most memorable ones, such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber.
However, a year before starring in these comedies, he could have played none other than the unique Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park. The role of this mathematician who specializes in chaos theory caught Carrey's attention, so he auditioned and did a remarkably good job. However, filmmakers ended up casting Jeff Goldblum instead after realizing that he was the perfect man for the role.
Sean Connery
Actor and filmmaker Richard Attenborough was cast to play John Hammond, the owner of Jurassic Park and founder of InGen. This is one of Attenborough's most popular films along with Doctor Dolittle and Miracle on 34th Street, to name a few.
However, this quirky character could have turned out very differently, as there was a possibility for the role to land in Sean Connery's hands. The actor, who was already world-famous for playing James Bond, had worked with Spielberg on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and he was one of the first ones under consideration for Hammond's role, yet he ended up declining the part.
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci was another one of the actresses on this list who became world-famous in the 1990s. Shortly after her debut in the film Mermaids, Ricci became a worldwide sensation for playing Wednesday in the 1991 film The Addams Family and its sequel, Addams Family Values.
Like many other young girls, Ricci, a child star at the time, auditioned for the role of Lex Murphy, John Hammond's eldest granddaughter. However, as was the case with Jeff Goldblum and his character, the filmmakers were completely won over by Ariana Richards' performance and her abilities to convey the horror that her character goes through in her Jurassic Park adventure, so she was the one who landed the role.
Richard Dreyfuss
By the time Spielberg set to work on Jurassic Park, actor Richard Dreyfuss was already a sensation and had become the youngest performer to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Goodbye Girl. In addition, he had already worked with the director in three of his projects: Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Always, a romantic drama that did not have as much buzz as the rest of Spielberg's films.
Naturally, he was another of Steven's top choices to play Dr. Alan Grant, especially since he had worked with him on previous hits. However, Dreyfuss ended up missing out on the project because they could not agree on the economic compensation for it.
Robin Wright
Although Laura Dern was the actress that Spielberg had in mind for the role of Ellie almost from the beginning of the project, there were many other performers who auditioned for the same part and were offered the role. Besides Binoche, Robin Wright was one of the most strongly considered candidates at the time.
The actress, who had risen to fame a few years earlier for her role in the film The Princess Bride, decided to turn down the offer. A year after the premiere of this production, Wright gained worldwide popularity for her role in another classic movie: Forrest Gump, the Robert Zemeckis film starring Tom Hanks.
Michael Keaton
At this point, there is no doubt that Jeff Goldblum was the right actor to play Dr. Ian Malcolm. However, there were many other performers besides him who could have landed the role. One of the most popular ones was Michael Keaton, who by that time was hugely successful thanks to his starring roles in Beetlejuice, Batman, and Batman Returns, all films directed by Tim Burton. Keaton was one of the actors who auditioned to play Ian Malcolm next to Jim Carrey, Johnny Depp and Michael J. Fox, among many others, although none of them succeeded in securing the role.
Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell was another strong candidate to play Alan Grant. By the 1970s, this actor was already a star thanks to his work in several Disney productions, such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Strongest Man in the World, and he became increasingly successful as the years went by.
Russell was offered the role of the paleontologist, but he could not reach an agreement with the production company regarding his expected pay, so he ended up rejecting the project. The same year as Jurassic Park's release, he was part of the cast of Tombstone, a Western film in which he co-starred with Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, and Michael Biehn.
Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt was also among the actresses who auditioned to play Ellie Sattler before the part ended up in Dern's hands. By that time, she had become well-known for her role in the sitcom Mad About You, and had also appeared in productions such as Trancers and Peggy Sue Got Married.
Despite not being cast in Jurassic Park, Hunt went on to star in some major productions of the time: in 1996, she was featured alongside Bill Paxton in Twister, a disaster film directed by Jan de Bont in which Spielberg served as executive producer and Michael Crichton as writer. A year later, she joined Jack Nicholson in As Good as It Gets, a project that earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.