Jurassic is back, and it's ushering in a new era. Following in the Titanosaurus-sized footsteps of its predecessors, this means a fresh set of kids facing off with dinosaurs.
Helmed by stars Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis and Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett, the latest film in the franchise, Jurassic World Rebirth, features a new generation of talent. Luna Blaise (Manifest) and Audrina Miranda (Criminal Minds: Evolution) play sisters Teresa and Isabella Delgado, while David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) portrays Teresa's boyfriend, Xavier.
During a recent press event, Good Housekeeping was invited to sit down with the cast members to celebrate the digital release of the movie, which is now available to rent or buy. The actors spoke about how they balanced paying homage to the original Jurassic Park and introducing new characters and a modern-day story, revealed an improvised moment that made it in to the final cut, and shared what they'd like to see next for the franchise.
"Our goal was to make this its own separate entity and to show a younger generation, you can still make a movie that's [part of] a franchise, and it can be super cool, it can be shot on film, have all new actors, a whole new storyline," Luna told us.
"I also really appreciated how—while it was such an homage and a reference to a lot of other Spielberg movies—it was very much its own movie," David said. "I definitely watched them and let it inform the performance in this movie, but let it kind of marinate in my subconscious."
One of the main differences in Rebirth, David points out, is the involvement of the Delgado family. "I don't really know if we've seen a group of people like that in any of the other Jurassic movies. They're so gregarious with one another and really appreciate being in their own company. And they're confident in...they're almost blunt and direct in the fact that these people are insane and the mission that they're going on is absurd."
David's character, Xavier, serves as comedic relief throughout the film. David revealed that the cast improvised a fair amount on set, which was encouraged by director Gareth Edwards. "It was very much a playground. He was just like, if you do too much, we can cut it. I'll pull it back in. There were a couple of good beats that ended up making the movie that we just came up with," he explained.
"There's the moment where Xavier takes the licorice from Isabella right in the beginning, when you first see him, and he snatches it from her. We talked about the licorice as being a repetitive joke for some of the movie's moments. So anytime we reference the licorice."
While a follow-up has not been confirmed, Luna and David weighed in on where they thought their characters fit in a potential sequel. "It's referenced in the movie that [Teresa is] going to NYU and that's where the whole Special Ops thing is happening. So, maybe she ends up joining [Zora]," Luna suggested.
"Henry Loomis works at the Museum of Natural History in New York as well, so I don't know...It's a fun idea that these young kids are kind of taken by the idea of dinosaurs and preserving them, or at least preserving the history of them. It would be cool to see them team up at some point. That'd be sweet," David agreed.
"I feel like Isabella's grown since she got off that boat, because it is pretty traumatizing for her," Audrina said of her character. And as for Isabella's adorable sidekick, Dolores the baby Aquilops? "She's probably just eating licorice."
Jamie (she/her) is the news and SEO editor at Good Housekeeping. She oversees GH's digital news strategy, assigning and editing celebrity and entertainment news content. Before joining Good Housekeeping in 2024, she was the digital editor at Woman's Day. She has over 7 years of professional experience writing and editing lifestyle content for the Rachael Ray Show, The Knot, Martha Stewart Weddings, Insider, Elite Daily and more. She holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and lives in Brooklyn with her cats Lumos, Linus and Milo.
