Scarlett Johansson’s lifelong obsession with ‘Jurassic Park’: “It has stayed with me forever”
There are many people who would die for the chance to work with their filmmaking heroes, pining after an opportunity that seems entirely out of reach and impossible to find. It could be the chance to work with a retired or reclusive filmmaker who no longer makes films, or it could be an elusive independent director who only ever works when inspiration strikes, even if that’s only once every ten years.
But for many, there are some predictable greats that sit at the top of the wish list, with Leonardo DiCaprio finally working with Paul Thomas Anderson after years of speculation about when the pair would cross paths or the perfect crossover between Kelly Reichardt and Josh O’Connor.
However, for Scarlett Johansson, there was one person who has taken top place of her bucket place ever since she was a child, with one movie burning into her brain and making such an impression that she vowed to work with the director, even if it meant waiting nearly her entire life to make it happen.
There’s a sense of wonder and curiosity that is captured in the films of Steven Spielberg, with an expansive and life-affirming tone that is revealed in even the darkest of stories, whether it be Saving Private Ryan or Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
But this mood was elevated to new levels through the miraculous story of dinosaurs springing back to life and exercising their reign over the human world once more, with Jurassic Park having a huge impact on Johansson at a young age and sparking a decades-long fascination that eventually, resulted in her starring in the franchise herself.
From the rippling water glass that shakes with each dinosaur footstep to the effortlessly flirtatious presence of Jeff Goldblum, the film is revered as one of the greatest creations under Spielberg’s belt, with Johansson describing the effect the film first had on her, saying, “It was such a formative moviegoing experience for me. It was like nothing any of us had seen before. The effects were extraordinary. It was the perfect mix of CGI, puppetry, an incredible score, a mix of drama with some comedy, it was gory but not too gory, it was scary but not too scary. The kids were great in it”.
Perhaps this is a quality less prevalent in the moviegoing experiences we have today, with Johansson saying, “It hit every part of what makes a movie great in a theatre, and it felt like everyone was having such a collective experience. It was so thrilling and has stayed with me forever. Those kinds of movies are rare, and I’m here for them. I’m here to be carried away, entertained and thrilled.”
It’s the kind of film that was meant for everyone to enjoy, with film snobs, cinephiles and Marvel fans alike enjoying the suspense, romance and unexpected bonding that blooms between the central characters on their mission to survive. In combination with the darker tones, with the lead scientist slowly coming to terms with the consequences of interfering with nature, it is no surprise that it still has such a hold over people today.
