The Iconic Jurassic Park Moment Jeff Goldblum Totally Improvised
Versatile actor Jeff Goldblum has portrayed many iconic, memorable characters over a career spanning almost fifty years. With 139 acting credits currently listed on IMDb, it might be justifiably hard to pick a favorite. His stunning turn as a scientist slowly devolving into a giant insect in "The Fly" certainly had audiences buzzing. The 69-year-old thespian also had notable roles in ensemble projects ranging from wistful dramas like "The Big Chill" to sci-fi epics like "Independence Day." But somewhere near the top of the list would have to be his incarnation of the skeptical (maybe cynical?) Dr. Ian Malcolm in director Steven Spielberg's seminal 1993 classic, "Jurassic Park."
"Jurassic Park" was the quintessential summer blockbuster, boasting cutting-edge special effects, a fantastic high-concept story (from the novel by Michael Crichton), and of course, rampaging dinosaurs. Featuring inspired performances from Goldblum, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and who are we kidding — the T-Rex, the movie launched a franchise that's still going strong today, with the latest chapter, "Jurassic World: Dominion" set to rumble into theaters on June 10th. It turns out Goldblum is reprising his famous role for that one as well.
Now, you might think a masterpiece like the original "Jurassic Park" left no little detail to chance, right? Especially under the stewardship of a genius like Spielberg, who essentially created the summer blockbuster with "Jaws." But there's actually an incredibly iconic moment in "Jurassic Park" that Goldblum improvised.
Jeff Goldblum's unbuttoned shirt scene was improvised
That's right, after surviving his close encounter with the T-Rex (a fate not shared by the unlucky lawyer, to everyone's delight), an injured Malcolm spends much of the rest of the film laying around and occasionally chiming in on the impending doom. Fair enough. Hey, he said this was all a bad idea way back at the dinner table before all the human characters became part of the menu.
But there's a specific Malcolm moment there that has garnered a lot of attention over the years (and now lives all over the internet in a fascinating and funny variety of memes). Yup, we're talking about that unbuttoned shirt shot. In a "Jurassic Park" 25th Anniversary special (via YouTube), Goldblum himself said there was nothing in the script about Malcolm's shirt at that particular time, so apparently, he decided the situation made sense for a sexy-time pose. Or maybe he was just warm and uncomfortable. He did just almost get eaten, you know.
Regardless of the motivation, his bare-skin improvisation has become one of the more enduring images from the film. Well, as far as the human characters go, that is.