1993’s Jurassic Park was as much a summer blockbuster as a cultural event, quickly becoming the highest-grossing movie of all-time, reigniting dinosaur fever amongst children, and ushering in a new era of CGI technology with ILM’s groundbreaking VFX work.
A sequel was all but guaranteed, and in 1995 author Michael Crichton released The Lost World. Soon afterwards, audiences were being teased that “something has survived.” This was 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which loosely adapts Crichton’s book and reveals that while Isla Nublar was the park, the dinosaurs themselves were raised on Site B, Isla Sorna.
Naturally, the running and screaming soon followed, with the film focusing on a ragtag team of environmentalists battling poachers and hunters trying to capture dinosaurs to exhibit in San Diego. While The Lost World isn’t anywhere near as good as Jurassic Park, it’s still a very fun romp.
It’s also got an excellent cast, though sadly Sam Neill’s Alan Grant and Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler weren’t along for the ride. Here’s who they are, and what they’re doing now:
Jeff Goldblum (Dr Ian Malcolm)
After Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm understandably wanted to stay as far away as possible from islands full of hungry dinosaurs, but was drawn back into action after discovering his girlfriend Sarah Harding was already on the scene. We probably don’t need to tell you that Goldblum remains a huge star, popping up as The Grandmaster in the MCU, hosting The World According to Jeff Goldblum on Disney Plus, and returning to the dino-world in Fallen Kingdom and Dominion.
Julianne Moore (Dr. Sarah Harding)
As an animal behavior specialist, Dr. Sarah Harding jumped at the chance to see InGen’s dinosaurs on Site B, though ended up attracting the wrong kind of attention when she unwisely ended up smeared in baby T-Rex blood.
Moore is one of the most talented actors around, having appeared in classics like The Big Lebowski, Children of Men, Magnolia, and Still Alice. In 2020, The New York Times named her as one of the greatest actors of the 20th Century. She’s recently shown up in Apple TV Plus shows Lisey’s Story and Sharper, co-starred with Natalie Portman in May December, and served as the jury president of the 2022 Venice Film Festival.
Pete Postlethwaite (Roland Tembo)
Big game hunter Roland Tembo is theoretically the villain of The Lost World, on a mission to bag a T-Rex trophy to complete his hunting set, though Pete Postlethwaite is so charismatic you can’t help but root for him a little. Sadly, Postlethwaite died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 64, leaving behind a glittering filmography including The Usual Suspects, In the Name of the Father, and Romeo + Juliet. After working with him on Amistad, Steven Spielberg described him as “the best actor in the world.”
I once ran into Postlethwaite while out shopping in Manchester, and told him I thought he was great in The Lost World. He didn’t look impressed, said “thanks,” and gloomily walked away.
Vince Vaughn (Nick Van Owen)
Nowadays, Vince Vaughn is primarily known for his comedy roles, but early in his career he featured in a bunch of more dramatic parts. Vaughn’s character survives Isla Sorna, though we never hear from him again in the Jurassic Park canon. Vaughn is famed for a series of comedic smashes in the 200s, including Old School, Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers and The Break-Up. More recently he’s returned to some more dramatic roles in Hacksaw Ridge, Seberg, and starred in season two of True Detective.
Arliss Howard (Peter Ludlow)
John Hammond’s nephew is the true villain of The Lost World. Peter Ludlow is a rapacious capitalist with big plans to exploit the dinosaurs, a course of action that eventually sees him gobbled by the baby T-Rex as its first live prey. Arliss Howard first appeared in Full Metal Jacket and has gone on to have a successful career as an actor, screenwriter, and director. Notable recent credits include Mank and Concussion, though he’s also got a firm career in theater, and often appears on Broadway.
Richard Attenborough (John Hammond)
Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond doesn’t play a huge role in The Lost World, even if it’s a pleasure to see him reprise his grandfatherly demeanor in brief scenes. Attenborough died in 2014 at the age of 90, having lived a truly inspiring life, including fighting the Nazis in World War II, and later appearing in classics like Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, and Miracle on 34th Street. Along the way, he picked up Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for 1983’s Gandhi.
He was also the older brother of famed naturalist David Attenborough, who continues to turn out incredible nature documentaries at age 97.
Peter Stormare (Dieter Stark)
Peter Stormare’s Dieter Stark has one of the more grisly deaths in the franchise, being overwhelmed by hungry Compsognathuses. The Lost World is really more of a footnote in Stormare’s work, as he’s popped up in memorable roles in everything from Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Armageddon, Minority Report and 22 Jump Street. Recent gigs include voicing Godbrand in Netflix’s Castlevania, John Wick: Chapter 2, Teen Titans Go!, American Gods, and most recently in Paramount Plus show 1923.
Vanessa Chester (Kelly Curtis Malcolm)
Kelly is one of Ian Malcolm’s daughters, stowing away on the expedition to Isla Sorna and eventually using her gymnastic skills to defeat some raptors. Chester came to The Lost World at the age of 11 or 12 after appearances in A Little Princess and Harriet the Spy. Since then she’s primarily focused on television work, appearing in Malcolm in the Middle and The West Wing. Her most recent appearance was voicing a character in the 2021 animated series Summer Camp Island, though she doesn’t seem to have worked since then.
Richard Schiff (Eddie Carr)
Richard Schiff’s Eddie Carr also meets a brutal end courtesy of the T-Rexes in The Lost World, with his body torn in half by the two dinosaurs. Schiff is best known for his Emmy Award-winning performance Toby Ziegler on The West Wing, and has a long-running role in ABC medical drama The Good Doctor. His most recent notable performance was as the US Secretary of State in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but he also has a key DCU role in Man of Steel as Emil Hamilton.
All in all, a seriously impressive cast stocked with some of the most talented actors in the industry. With all that talent, it’s arguable that The Lost World could have been better, but for us it remains a top-tier slice of dinosaur action that we’re happy to return to every now and then.
