Actress Laura Dern mourned her Jurassic Park co-star Sam Neill, who passed away.
On the 13th (local time), Laura Dern issued a statement to Page Six mourning the late Sam Neill as "a lifelong beloved friend."
In the statement she said, "Sam was the beloved friend of my life. He was the person who always showed me how deep loyalty, a protective instinct and love could be, all while delivering humor that seemed utterly indifferent."
She went on to describe Sam Neill as "a true gentleman and a noble person," and said he was the ideal leading man she had always dreamed of.
Dern closed the statement by adding, "I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant."
Laura Dern and Sam Neill played Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant, respectively, as lovers in the 1993 film Jurassic Park. They later reunited in the same roles in 2001's Jurassic Park III and 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion.
At the time the two actors had a 20-year age difference, but Sam Neill said, "I was twenty years older than Laura. But back then it was considered entirely appropriate for lead actors of different sexes to have that kind of age gap."
Dern said that "falling in love with Sam felt so natural and inevitable," but added that as social awareness of patriarchy increased she came to realize that that romance was a problematic setup.
Sam Neill's family earlier said in a statement that he died peacefully in a hospital in Sydney, Australia, with family members at his side. The late actor was diagnosed with stage 3 rare blood cancer in 2022, received chemotherapy and was declared cured; the family said the cancer had not recurred.
[Photo] Stills from the films Jurassic Park and Jurassic World: Dominion.
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