The Poster Memorabilia blog

My Search for Jurassic Park Through the Years

One poster, four events, and nearly a decade of hunting Jurassic Park signatures.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Chasing down celebrities as an autograph hound sometimes makes me feel like a paleontologist looking for fossils in the desert. Weird comparison, I know, but I feel it's appropriate to describe my experience hunting down the cast of Jurassic Park. You'd be surprised at how challenging it was to get their autographs.

I'm lucky I got to see Steven Spielberg and Samuel L. Jackson, for example. I met Jackson at the Avengers: Infinity War movie premiere and asked him to sign both my Avengers poster and Jurassic Park poster. As for Spielberg, I met him one year at the Oscars, and he took the time to sign stuff for people at the fan pit. Thank God I had the foresight to bring my poster with me that year.

Looking back on it, you’d think that this iconic movie would have many reunions over the years, but reality told a different story. First of all, the main trio—Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern—barely appeared in public together before Jurassic World: Dominion in 2022. So for almost 30 years, the leads didn't even reunite.

This is exactly why I just had to be there at that movie’s premiere. By hook or by crook, I was finally gonna get my movie poster signed by the cast. The original cast, that is. No disrespect to the stars of the newer movies; I mostly focused on the OGs.

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As luck would have it, only Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern appeared at the red carpet premiere of Jurassic World: Dominion in LA. Annoying as it was that Sam Neill wasn't there, 2 out of 3 wasn't bad, especially since meeting them in person was a memorable experience.

“I could hardly believe that Dr. Ian Malcolm and Dr. Ellie Sattler were together again, both on and off screen.”

I could hardly believe that Dr. Ian Malcolm and Dr. Ellie Sattler were together again, both on and off screen. It was a long time coming, but there they were, looking as good as they did in 1993. And just as nice as people told me they were.

Other autograph hounds who've encountered them separately through the years told me that they're some of the best celebrities they've met in real life. I'm proud to say that they weren't wrong. They weren't even exaggerating. I had such a good time meeting both actors and asking for their autographs that I almost felt sad that this was the first time I was seeing them.

Jeff Goldblum really is that charismatic in real life. I know he gets criticized for basically playing himself in movies, but if you have that much star quality, it really shouldn't matter anymore. And speaking of star quality, Laura Dern has it in spades. She was elegant and beautiful, every bit the movie star I fell in love with in the first Jurassic Park movie.

BD Wong was also such a delight. I'm glad they got him back in the franchise because I really liked his character. The main trio gets all the attention, sure, but BD Wong deserves his flowers, too. I'd even say that I was proudest to get his autograph that night, more so than Goldblum or Dern.

The pleasant surprise was Ariana Richards, who played little Lex Murphy in the first two films of the franchise. She's no longer acting, which is a shame because she's grown to be such a beautiful woman, but I'm glad she showed up that night. And of course, I just had to get her autograph on my poster, and I did!

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I later met some of the supporting cast four years later at C2E2 2026 last March. I finally saw Wayne Knight and Joseph Mazzello in person and got their autographs. There was even a funny moment when Ariana Richards saw the poster, saw her autograph on it, and was surprised.

“When the hell did that happen?” she exclaimed. I get it. She's a busy woman, and the encounter did happen four years ago. I don't blame her for forgetting it.

I will always remember it. I will always remember the movie, my encounters with the director and the cast, and how much I love the franchise. This autographed poster will remind me of all of it every time I see it.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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