Jurassic World Dominion: Laura Dern Reflects on Franchise’s “Feminist Dialogue”

Jurassic World: Dominion is set to debut in theaters this weekend, and its marketing is already teasing that the film will be the finale of the “Jurassic saga.” The film will cap years of cinematic storytelling, which has introduced fans to memorable characters — and also brought more female characters into the action movie space, beginning with Laura Dern’s Dr. Ellie Sattler. Dominion will see Dern reprising her role as Ellie, alongside newer female characters such as Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise). In an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com, Dern reflected on the franchise’s strives towards female empowerment, and also spoke about how important that was when making the original Jurassic Park.

“Huge,” Dern said of the franchise’s themes of female empowerment. “I mean, it was so important on the first film, as a very young actor — frankly, the only female on a movie — to go to the extraordinary team making the film, and use my voice to advocate for her fierce independence and her feminist dialogue and the way she would look in the movie. Steven Spielberg was a master, and also incredibly open about this, and his producer, Kathy Kennedy, was so protective of that, as were the writers. So feeling that kind of support, but also feeling the newness of using your voice as a woman was radical at that time, I have to say. So I do feel moved and proud at how this franchise has evolved. I got a bit teary-eyed remembering the 23-year-old me, feeling like it was going to be hard work to fight for something. And now be standing between Bryce and DeWanda, and feeling that power, was really moving.”

This summer, experience the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era as two generations unite for the first time. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are joined by Oscar-winner Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Sam Neill in Jurassic World Dominion, a bold, timely, and breathtaking new adventure that spans the globe. Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live — and hunt — alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.

“This is the movie that I’ve been waiting to make from the beginning,” Dominion director Colin Trevorrow told reporters during a press conference for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous in 2020. “It’s the one that we have spent the past two movies building to. It really was part of a larger story and part of the design. And I think people may be underestimating the size and importance of Laura Dern and Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum‘s characters in this movie. It is very much an ensemble, and that [includes] the ability to take these beloved characters from almost 30 years now, and understand how they interact with each other in the context of a world that we’ve really never seen before, and have not been able to witness until now. It’s very exciting for me. I’m having the time of my life.”

Jurassic World: Dominion is set to be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, June 10th.