Can you picture Jurassic Park without Dr. Ian Malcolm? Even if Jeff Goldblum hadn’t been cast as Malcolm in Steven Spielberg‘s film adaptation, the character played a major role in Michael Crichton’s original novel. But according to Goldblum, there was a “movement” to merge Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant into a single character. This was after Goldblum read the book and had his heart set on bringing Malcolm to life.
Goldblum shared the story during an extended video he filmed for Vanity Fair. As Goldblum recalls, Spielberg told him the committee working on the script was leaning towards the melding of the Malcolm and Grant characters as a way to simplify the film.
“I felt moved to advocate for my inclusion!†exclaimed Goldblum. He didn’t entirely recall the argument he offered in defense of keeping Ian Malcolm, but it may have had something to do with Malcolm’s and Grant’s differing and distinct worldviews. Losing either character would have been a significant loss for the story.
The rest of the video is also an interesting trip back through Goldblum’s cinematic career, from his first role in Death Wish to his current film, Isle of Dogs.
What do you think about the possibility that Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant could have been merged in the Jurassic Park film? Life finds a way and so will you in the comment section below!
Images: Universal Pictures
More Goldblum because you need it!
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- He tells the origin story of his Goldblumisms.
