When Jurassic Park first came out in 1993, no one knew it was going to be this big of a franchise. After 30 years of giving us great cinematic memories, Ariana Richards, who played Lex Murphy, recreated an epic scene from the first film that has even been memorialized in a work of art she painted herself.
After Jurassic World: Dominion was released in June of last year, its box office receipts of over $1 billion worldwide was assurance that the franchise still had more gas in the tank. How could it go wrong with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard joining Jurassic veterans Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum?
With the anniversary of the original coming up on June 11, the Jurassic World TikTok channel challenged fans to recreate the iconic scene where Richards’ Lex sees a dinosaur for the first time. Imagine being flown halfway around the world to land on an island where humans have decided to play creator and bring back dinosaurs. Then further imagine seeing one in real life as it walks closer, breathes, and chomps on whatever it can find to eat. Now, put a spoonful of Jell-O in a little girl’s hands and imagine how that scene is supposed to play out.
Richards was launched into stardom after playing that role. She went on to star as Melissa Lefevre in Angus, Sarah Stewart in The Princess Stallion, and Donna Voorhees in Battledogs. However, not before reprising her role as Lex for a quick cameo in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Richards eventually left acting to pursue an art career with her last movie, Battledogs premiering in 2013. In fact, she presented Steven Spielberg with one of her first paintings that he has proudly displayed on his office wall. Another one of her works is that very scene where she trembles as she sees a dinosaur with a spoonful of Jell-O, which she shared to her Twitter account in 2018.
In an interview with KATU News, she recalled Steven Spielberg coming up to her and asking, “Ariana, you get to such a point of complete terror. We see it written all over your face. How do you get to this level of fear? Were you scared by a clown when you were two?” Then just like that, he backed off and said he didn’t want want to know.
With the Jurassic Park TikTok channel putting out the challenge, Ariana said, “Challenge accepted” — she pulled out a spoon, a cube of Jell-O, and reenacted her scene from 30 years ago. After all, who was going to recreate the scene better than her?
She could probably return to acting any time she wanted and possibly even rejoin the cast of Jurassic Park when they make sequels 10 or 11, however many they want to make. And let’s be honest, her reenactment blew the 29% Rotten Tomatoes-rated Jurassic World Dominion out of the water. For now, though, she’s enjoying her art and her title as the queen of the iconic Jell-O tremble.
