Jeff Goldblum has been in a lot of tentpole movies lately, and he has a stint in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom coming up. (At least in the States, those of you living elsewhere may have already caught it.) Because he's returning to the Jurassic Park franchise, he's shared many stories recently regarding his time on the original movie, and this week he told late night host Jimmy Kimmel there was a time that Martin Ferrero, who plays the lawyer in the original movie, tried to convince Jeff Goldblum they should switch places in the narrative. Per Goldblum:
I wouldn't even be in this movie if Marty Ferrero, the actor who played the lawyer in the first movie -- who gets eaten off the toilet, remember -- had had his way. We were flying to Hawaii, and I met him on the flight. Hawaii was the place where we first shot. We were going to shoot our first days, meet Steven Spielberg in Kauai... He says, 'Hey, I have an idea. I've been studying the script. What if, and we should pitch this both of us if you like this idea, to Steven Spielberg. What if your character doesn't just get banged and kind of his leg hurt and I get killed, you get killed [instead] and I get my leg broken?
Clearly, Dr. Ian Malcolm getting killed would have changed the Jurassic Park franchise as a whole, as Dr. Ian Malcolm became a fan-favorite character and the lead in the follow-up The Lost World: Jurassic Park. There is precedent for Dr. Ian Malcolm to be dead in this universe, however, as he spends most of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park dying slowly and is retconned back in the sequel book by the author after fans loved Jeff Goldblum's take in the movie. Still, even before Jeff Goldblum knew the character was going to be iconic, it's difficult to see how he'd go for lawyer Gennaro's lot, which in the movie ended up being dying while sitting on a toilet.
In case you might think Martin Ferrero was pulling a fast on on Jeff Goldblum, the actor also said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that it seemed as if Ferrero was being sincere with his pitch. So, the best that Goldblum could do was respond nicely, saying,
I was like, 'Well, I dunno...'
If you'd like to hear more from Jeff Goldblum recounting his time on movie sets, you can check out the full late night interview, below.
As for Jeff Goldblum, the actor has a cushy gig in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, returning as Dr. Ian Malcolm, who does not believe the dinosaurs should be rescued off of Isla Nublar as a volcanic eruption looms. You can check out the character returning to the big screen this weekend, or get a taste of the role with the full trailer for the upcoming sequel.
