Jurassic Park IIIdidn’t quite reach the same levels of success as its predecessors, but star Sam Neill feels that the sequel is rather underrated. After sitting out the second installment, we last saw Neill in the role of Dr. Alan Grant in 1999 whenJurassic Park IIIwas released. Over two decades later, he’ll reprise the role once against for the upcoming sequelJurassic World: Dominion.
ThoughJurassic Park IIIseems to be the least-popular installment of the entire movie franchise,Sam Neilllooks back at the sequel much more fondly than many others. In fact, Neill even loves the controversial scene where a velociraptor talks to Dr. Grant in a dream, and his only real qualm with the movie is that the ending feels a bit rushed. Speaking aboutJurassic Park IIIin a new interview with Collider, here’s what Neill had to say when asked about his first reaction to reading the infamous raptor scene inJurassic Park III.
“I thought, ‘That’s pretty cool!’ [Laughs] I was just talking to someone earlier in the day who said, ‘I really likeJurassic Park IIIand it gets an unfair [treatment].’ .. And I said, ‘Thank you very much!’ I agree that the last 10 minutes are way too easy and way too hurried, but I think up to that point, it’s pretty damn good.”
In the interview, Neill also explains how he felt more comfortable playingDr. Grantin the third movie than he did in the original, as playing an action hero was not something that comes naturally for him. As Neill explains:
“For me, by the time I got to #3, probably a bit late in the day, I’d sort of worked out how to play that character, which I hadn’t really quite gotten around to in the first one. I was still trying to work out, how do you play that guy in the hat? .. And you have to think how to do that. It’s a special skill. You’re not just playing a character. You need a whole skillset. You need a whole armory to play an action hero and I wish I had known what those skills were when we did the first one, but there we are!”
Jurassic World: Dominionis set to bereleased by Universal Pictures on July 01, 2025. Along with Neill, the sequel also brings back Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum as doctors Ellie Sattler and Ian Malcolm, respectively. Franchise stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard also return. Colin Trevorrow directs using a screenplay co-written with Emily Carmichael.
In the meantime, Neill can be seen in his next starring role inRams. Directed by Jeremy Sims, the movie follows Neill and Michael Caton as two estranged brothers raising separate flocks of sheep who must put their differences aside to reunite their family and save the herd. The early reviews have been very strong, and the movie is set to be released on VOD platforms on Friday. Feb. 5. This news comes to us fromCollider.
