With The Lost World: Jurassic Park recently being added to everything new on Netflix, audiences are going to be able to relive the excitement of the first cinematic sequel to the Jurassic Park Universe. Playing her own crucial role in that endeavor was Julianne Moore, who as Dr. Sarah Harding got to experience a lot of action involving dinosaurs great and small.
And just as you’d expect, the Academy Award winner still remembers exactly what was like to carry around a 70-lb animatronic dinosaur on that set. That revelation comes from a recent Vanity Fair video, which caught up with the May December star to promote what some consider to be one of the best 2023 Netflix movies.
When discussing this spot on her career’s timeline, Ms. Moore recalled toting around a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex for director Steven Spielberg in the following anecdote:
I think the most memorable thing about it was carrying around that baby dinosaur. Which, these were the days of animatronics, so it was before CG. It was an actual, heavy, mechanical dinosaur. It weighed probably 70-lbs, and it had a motor in it. They would turn the motor on, and you could hear it go *mimics motor noise*, and it would move like that too, in my arms, and I’d have to run. I ran everywhere holding that dinosaur, I was like, ‘This is so heavy guys! Let me put it down!' It was so fun to be in a series that’s become so iconic to us.
Recruited to star in the only sequel based on a novel penned by author Michael Crichton, Julianne Moore’s casting in Jurassic Park’s follow-up came at a time when her star was on the rise. It wasn’t long before she’d score two more of her most iconic roles, as Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski would arrive within a year of The Lost World’s 1997 premiere.
So one could say that her workout regimen with a 70-lb animatronic baby T-Rex helped buff up Julianne's career muscles, as well as the undoubtedly potent arm workout the experience provided. While you can read all about it in remarks above, it’s really a treat to see Julianne Moore discuss the process of working on The Lost World: Jurassic Park in such animated detail. If that interests you, then feel free to watch the magic happen below:
It's unfortunate that, a little over 25 years later, we still haven't seen any indication of Dr. Sarah Harding’s potential Jurassic return. Maybe with the presence of Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler's romance plot line in 2021’s Jurassic World Dominion, it would have been seen as redundant if Sarah and Dr. Ian Malcolm were seen making up and chasing dinosaurs again for old time's sake.
Then again, the recent reminder that there’s plenty of life left in the franchise keeps such hopes alive. As we’ve seen with Jurassic World: Chaos Theory’s announcement trailer, a new Netflix animated series is acting as the keeper of this very flame. So perhaps some sorts of clues will be dropped towards Dr. Harding's whereabouts when that series finally debuts, at a currently undisclosed spot on the 2024 TV schedule.
If Julianne Moore’s rugged hero from The Lost World: Jurassic Park does return, at least in animated form she won’t have to worry about lugging a 70-lb Tyrannosaurus. Though she might just have to recall that experience from memory in the voice-over booth, as life has surely found a way for more prehistoric tykes to make their way into the world throughout the Jurassic World storyline.
For the moment, there’s plenty of thrills to behold with your Netflix subscription. At the time of this writing the Jurassic Park trilogy, as well as May December, are all waiting to be streamed at your convenience. So if you want to rediscover The Lost World, it’s there for the taking. Just watch which dinosaurs you choose to pick up, as that decision is a potentially dangerous one to make. Be sure to check the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie.
