We've already established that Jeff Goldblum is quite possibly the most curious man in the world. But he's also been a world-renowned expert in dinosaur-related chaos theory for almost 30 years.
Well, that last part is more true of Ian Malcolm, a character the 69-year-old Goldblum originated in the 1993 film "Jurassic Park" and has now reprised in multiple "Jurassic" sequels. Malcolm started out as a supporting figure to Sam Neill's Alan Grant and Laura Dern's Ellie Sattler in "Jurassic Park" before taking a more central role in 1997's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and returning for a glorified cameo in 2018's "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom."
Goldblum, Dern and Neill are all back together for "Jurassic World Dominion," which hits theaters Friday. Goldblum has much more to do this time: He gets to philosophize about the problems with humans and dinosaurs coexisting, tries to evade near-certain death by dinosaur and, most importantly, gets to release his full inner Goldblum on the big screen.
"[Director] Colin Trevorrow and [co-screenwriter] Emily Carmichael are really smart," Goldblum told the Post-Gazette. "He's been the architect of these three 'World' movies and he told me about this possibility a few years ago. He said, 'I want to put you guys back in the action right away. I don't want you being on the sidelines giving advice.'
"I love what they did. ... Everybody had something to contribute. It was a creative, very nourishing, chewy experience."
It's been an eventful few months for Goldblum fans, who got to hear him reprise his Marvel Cinematic Universe role as the Grandmaster in vocal form during an episode of "What If...?," watched him explore whatever's on his mind in Season 2 of the Disney+ series "The World According to Jeff Goldblum" and saw him play tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn in the final season of the HBO Max series "Search Party."
Now, he's back in the "Jurassic" world as Ian Malcolm, who in "Dominion" is working with a shady company looking to profit from disruptions to the global ecosystem brought on by the reemergence of dinosaurs. As excited as "Jurassic Park" enthusiasts may be to see Goldblum in this role again, their energy couldn't match how he felt upon learning that he, Neill and Dern would all be returning for "Dominion."
"I was so pumped!" he said. "I don't know how to quantify the pump that I got, but it was a high pump. I adore them. We had such a good time in 1992 making that movie with Steven Spielberg, who is a giant and a genius of the cinema. It was a very special experience."
Those three formed a tight friendship after surviving multiple dinosaur attacks at the movies and a real-life hurricane that hit Kauai, Hawaii, while "Jurassic Park" was filming exteriors that would be used for the fictional Isla Nublar. Goldblum said that experience "affected us powerfully," and the immediate "entertainment impact" that came with the release of "Jurassic Park" bonded them together for life.
In "Dominion," Dern's Ellie recruits Neill's Alan on a mission that involves Ian, who unlike Alan has kept in touch with Ellie since the events of "Jurassic Park." Goldblum's character gets the band back together for a "special, passionate, subversive mission plan," as he put it in a way only Jeff Goldblum could. He got a real kick out of how Ian rankled Alan, who is "still on tenterhooks" in terms of his relationship with Ellie.
"The whole dynamic was really fun to explore," Goldblum said.
In "Dominion," Goldblum joins Chris Pratt's Owen Grady, Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire Dearing and others as they flee velociraptors, that pesky Tyrannosaurus and a Giganotosaurus, which is exactly as horrifying as it sounds.
The film's dinosaurs are a mix of computer-generated images and animatronics made by creature designer John Nolan. Goldblum said that "Dominion" features a moment between Ian and the Giganotosaurus that is reminiscent of the scene in "Jurassic Park" in which Ian helps lead the Tyrannosaurus away from the kids.
"It's a crazy device that I jury-rig with those giant, prehistoric creatures," he said. "It's almost a kind of a French Revolutionary dance that I do."
In addition to taking part in plenty of action sequences, Goldblum imbues "Dominion" with a few moments of genuine humor. Without getting into spoilers, Ian delivers a ridiculous line to Owen about a dog he once owned at the end of an exchange about raptor training. Goldblum said he workshopped the bit with Pratt and Trevorrow in advance and was pleasantly surprised when it made the film's final cut.
Though Goldblum wasn't willing to make a definitive proclamation about his chances of ever returning to the franchise again, he is currently working under the assumption that "Dominion" will probably be the last time he plays Ian Malcolm in a "Jurassic" movie.
"I've had nothing but great associations with the whole thing," he said. "It seems like this could wrap up very satisfactorily my story. If I had to guess, I think that might be it for me. Thirty years ago, I would've been surprised if all this had occurred with five other movies since then. So who knows? If anything happens, I'll be eager to hear."
