Jackie Chan was denied a role in ‘Jurassic Park’: “I want to walk with dinosaurs”
Few Asian actors have had as big an impact on Western cinema as Jackie Chan. Following his rise to prominence in Hong Kong circles, Chan transferred his unique mix of incredible stunt work and comedy to grace the United States.
He first made a splash with the Rush Hour series before quickly establishing himself as the natural successor to Bruce Lee. Now, he’s one of the most recognisable stars in any form of entertainment.
Even though he was baffled by the American system when he first entered it, Chan has continued to exploit it to great success. Since splitting his time between the two halves of the globe, the fighter has worked with major co-stars and some of the biggest directors around. He’s even worked with Steven Spielberg…well, kind of.
Chan, who is a massive Spielberg fan, first met the acclaimed storyteller in the early 2000s. Though the actor thought he was going to be collaborating closely with his idol, that’s not how things panned out. This must have been upsetting for Chan, who by then was an established name in American cinema. However, if he is to be believed, this wasn’t the first time the Amblin man turned him down.
In a 2001 interview with BlackFilm, Chan was asked about his subsequent project, the one he said would involve Spielberg. This turned out to be The Tuxedo, a sci-fi martial arts comedy that would be distributed by DreamWorks, a company Spielberg helped set up. When asked if he would be doing any stunts in his new film, Chan said no, but also took the opportunity to lobby his new boss for something different.
“I also want to do something like Jurassic Park, I want to walk with dinosaurs,” he said.
When the interviewer asked Chan if he had relayed this to the director, he replied, “He said, ‘No! What we like you in is Jackie Chan action. That’s what we like’”.
The phrasing of this response is a little unclear. Chan could be saying that he wanted to be in the original Jurassic Park but was turned down, or he could be saying that he told Spielberg that he wanted to be in something like Jurassic Park when they met in the noughties. The first film in the franchise came out in 1993, when he was still an unknown commodity in the United States, so you can understand why he was denied a chance to go head-to-head with a T Rex.
If Chan did indeed miss out on a role in the inaugural movie, then he wouldn’t be the only famous face to do so. William Hurt, Tim Robbins, and Harrison Ford all turned down the chance to play Dr Alan Grant, while Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss were rejected on the grounds that they wanted too much money. Jim Carrey auditioned for the role of Dr Ian Malcolm and was considered, but casting director Janet Hirshenson had Jeff Goldblum in mind from the start. Poor guy never stood a chance.
It’s hard to imagine what a young Jackie Chan would have done in Jurassic Park, but it certainly would have made for interesting viewing. If you think that you wouldn’t have paid good money to see him dropkick a velociraptor, then you’re lying to yourself and everyone else.
