Jeff Goldblum on Passing the ‘Jurassic Park’ Baton to ‘Wicked’ Co-Star Jonathan Bailey
Jeff Goldblum is handing off the dinosaur-sized torch to “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey.
Bailey is taking on the role of paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis in the latest “Jurassic Park” film, “Jurassic World Rebirth” – and nobody’s more excited to see it than Goldblum.
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“The hope of the world resides, and I can think of no better baton receiver to carry on the ‘da da da da da,'” Goldblum tells Variety, singing the iconic “Jurassic Park” theme by John Williams. “It’s Jonathan Bailey! It’s like no other!”
Bailey shares that he and Goldblum chatted about the role for the first time while they were en route to CinemaCon earlier this year. “I had the invitation to join the ‘Jurassic’ world, to join the conga line led by Jeff,” Bailey said. “The original film was a seminal cinematic moment, purely because of Jeff, but also, I went with my family, and the multi-sensory experience of going to see a film so perfectly realized.”
Bailey adds, “There’s so much that I am so proud to join. But obviously, much like with ‘Wicked,’ there is a sense of responsibility. And if I can match half of what Jeff and Sam Neill and Laura Dern achieved, I’ll be very lucky.”
Goldblum starred as the beloved chaos theory mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm in 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” reprising the role for the 1997 sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and again in 2018’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion.”
Bailey will star alongside Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali in the 31-year-old “Jurassic” franchise’s seventh film. “Five years after the events of ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs,” an official summary reads. “Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.”
Bailey and Goldblum don’t actually share the screen in “Wicked, out Nov. 22, as Bailey’s Fiyero is charming the pants off every student at Shiz University while Goldblum’s Wizard of Oz is busy running the show in the Emerald City.
“At the beginning, you want to just relish the full essence of his charm and easy flow, as it were,” Bailey says, adding that Fiyero’s proclivity to flirt with men and women alike was just another way to bring nuance to the Winkie prince. “As a character, I ascertained that he’s confident and in himself, and he’s kind enough to invite anyone to Winkie town.”
“Heart-throbby! Heart-throbby!” Goldblum excitedly adds. But Bailey argues that the Wizard is actually the real charmer of the film. “He’s the OG rizz king,” Bailey says with a laugh, prompting Goldblum to burst into song again: this time, it’s “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” which Bailey enthusiastically joins him in.
As for his wizardly inspiration, Goldblum says he didn’t take any cues from modern day leaders in crafting the great and powerful leader. “This was written and devised well before any of our current landscape, but it’s a timeless story,” he says. “It’s always fallen to individual people who seek the truth and find their power and find out that, just like ‘Horton Hears a Who,’ one person of effectiveness can move the whole ship of state and keep things going toward an ideal and perfect country and world where we have a planet that works for everyone.”
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