Jurassic Park Without Dr. Ian Malcolm? That Would Be Chaos Theory

Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.

From Slash/Film

There would’ve been no Jurassic Park without Jeff Goldblum‘s Dr. Ian Malcolm. Well, not really, but it’s certainly hard to imagine. As soon as the chaos mathematician stepped into frame with his tinted glasses, leather jacket, and addictively weird laugh, we all knew it was an icon in the making. And then when he bared his chest after getting attacked by a dinosaur, he cemented his place on thousands of teen girls’ bedroom walls.

But, according to Goldblum, the character almost didn’t make it into the movie. There’s no dinosaur more horrifying than that prospect.


In a video interview with Vanity Fair, Goldblum revealed that Dr. Ian Malcolm was nearly cut from Jurassic Park.

When Goldblum’s met with Steven Spielberg, the director dropped the bomb that the character of Ian Malcolm might be merged with Sam Neill‘s Dr. Alan Grant. Here, Goldbum describes the meeting with all of glorious Goldblum-isms:

“I [read] that Michael Crichton book — Ian Malcolm, wow! Smart, funny, interesting character. [Spielberg] was so nice… but he said, ‘You know, there’s a sort of movement afoot… to have that part removed from the script. So since we’ve had this meeting, there’s this little wrinkle that may… render this moot.’ I kind of said, ‘Well, gee!’ I felt moved to advocate for my inclusion!”

Thankfully, Spielberg and the Jurassic Park team saw the light and kept Dr. Ian Malcolm in the movie. I mean, when you see Goldblum, how could you not?

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