5 Actors Who Almost Played Alan Grant in Jurassic Park Before Sam Neil, Including An Academy Award Winner
Jurassic Park is one of the most iconic movies of all time, and much of that is thanks to the performance of the film’s lead, Sam Neill, who portrays curmudgeonly paleontologist Alan Grant. The film is full of beloved characters, many of whom are the most iconic roles that their respective actors have played, including Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler, and Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond.
Because of how well-known these characters are, it’s hard to imagine anyone else filling the role. So, it’s interesting to think about the other actors who were considered for the film, including these five actors who almost played Alan Grant.
5) Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins was one of the biggest names in the 1980s and especially 1990s, with him being most well-known for his leading role as Andy Dufresne in 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption. However, Robbins was a big name ahead of the release of Jurassic Park, with him appearing in beloved films like Top Gun, Bull Durham, Jacob’s Ladder, The Player, and more. So, it isn’t surprising to learn that he nearly portrayed Dr. Alan Grant.
It isn’t known how far Robbins got in the casting process, although it is known that he turned down the role when offered. Robbins’ portrayal of Grant may have been a bit softer than Neill’s, as Robbins often plays quieter, kinder characters, although he isn’t afraid of playing characters with an edge in movies like The Player. Jurassic Park wrapped filming at the end of November, 1992, meaning that it may have conflicted with early work on The Shawshank Redemption, which began filming in June 1993. However, Robbins would eventually work with Spielberg on 2005’s War of the Worlds.
4) William Hurt
Nowadays, William Hurt may be more well-known for his role in the MCU, where he plays the first iteration of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in movies like The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: Civil War. Before this, however, Hurt was a major actor in the 1980s, appearing in films like Body Heat, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Children of a Lesser God, The Big Chill, and tons more.
William Hurt is another actor who turned down the role of Alan Grant, meaning that he must’ve been heavily considered by the production. William Hurt is only three years younger than Sam Neill, meaning that his Alan Grant would have been closer in age than Robbins, who was eleven years younger. However, there would have undoubtedly been some major differences between the two portrayals. Luckily, Hurt would get the chance to appear in a Spielberg-directed film again, with him portraying Professor Allen Hobby in 2001’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
3) Harrison Ford
Interestingly, another actor who would go on to play Thunderbolt Ross in the MCU was considered for the role of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Harrison Ford is an A-list actor who gained notoriety in the 1970s for his role as Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise. Later, Ford would go on to work with Spielberg multiple times, in the first four Indiana Jones films, three of which hit theaters before the release of Jurassic Park. So, it isn’t surprising that when Spielberg was casting his dinosaur sci-fi movie, he would consider one of his most frequent collaborators for the lead role.
However, Ford surprisingly turned down the role for unknown reasons. Although a paleontologist would have been a new role for Ford, a curmudgeonly one would have been right in his wheelhouse, with him playing quiet and grumpy men for the majority of his career. Luckily, Spielberg and Ford would work together again in the divisive 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
2) Kurt Russell
While the previous three actors turned down the role of Alan Grant, the next two were excluded from the final film as they were deemed too expensive. The first of these is Kurt Russell, one of the most prominent action stars of the 1980s and 1990s. Russell got his start as a child actor in a plethora of Disney films, although he would later go on to become a frequent collaborator of John Carpenter in movies like Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and The Thing. It’s safe to say that, by the time Jurassic Park was in pre-production, sci-fi action was Russell’s thing, making him an obvious choice.
Compared to all the other actors on this list, as well as Sam Neill, Russell is the most comedic one. Alan Grant has his funny moments, but other characters provide the comedic relief throughout Jurassic Park, something that Russell typically does himself in his films. Russell can be intense, which is required for a role like Grant, but the character would have been far more mellow than the actor’s typical characters like Jack Burton and John “The Hangman” Ruth. Russell never appeared in a movie directed by Spielberg, although he did appear in the Spielberg-produced 1980 film Used Cars.
1) Richard Dreyfuss
The final actor considered for the role of Alan Grant is no surprise to Spielberg fans: Richard Dreyfuss. The actor appeared in tons of films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, like American Graffiti, Stand By Me, and The Goodbye Girl, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. However, both of Dreyfuss’ most famous films were directed by Spielberg: 1975’s Jaws and 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While Spielberg had done great work before, these films are the ones that put him on the map while continuing to elevate Dreyfuss’ career.
While it isn’t surprising that Drefuss would be considered for the Jurassic Park role, it is surprising that he was considered too expensive. Jurassic Park is considered to be one of Spielberg’s best films, and if Dreyfuss had appeared in it, he would have been a leading man in all three of the films often brought up as the director’s masterpieces.
