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SYFY WIRE Laura Dern

Laura Dern got recognized at a 'Jurassic Park' attraction... but not for 'Jurassic Park'

Laura Dern's had a varied career, and sometimes fans pop up in strange places.

By Matthew Jackson
(from left) Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) in Jurassic World Dominion.

Laura Dern's had a varied, interesting acting career going back decades, but even with all of her credits, there are still some that stand out above others. Ask a random person on the street what they know Dern from, and they'll probably either answer a recent project like HBO's Big Little Lies, or a blockbuster classic like Jurassic Park. But even when standing in the midst of an actual Jurassic Park location, some Dern fans have other things on their minds.

The Oscar-winning actress was on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week to promote her new film The Son, and told a story about a particularly unlikely fan encounter on Hawaii's island of Oahu. Dern was visiting the island with her family recently, and just happened to be stopping by a friend's property which also happens to be one of the filming locations for the original Jurassic Park. So, when a fan approached her, Dern was not only standing in a Jurassic Park locale, but also standing in front of a Jurassic Park sign when the fan brought up...well, something else entirely.

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"And I was coming out of their farm and there’s a guided tour of ‘the sites of Jurassic Park‘ with, like, a little sign saying, ‘Welcome to Jurassic Park,'" Dern said. "And as I was post-beach and seeing our friends, we’re getting in the car and I’m standing right in front of the sign, and here comes a group of people. And this girl comes running up to me and says, ‘Oh my god, oh my god!’ I’m just like… I just want to be with my family, let’s not do a whole Jurassic Park… she goes, ‘Aren’t you the girl in the Taylor Swift video?!’ [laughs]. It was amazing. She did ask for a picture with me because she loves Taylor Swift, and there was ‘Welcome to Jurassic Park’ right behind us [laughs].”

Yes, the fan in question recognized Dern not from the blockbuster movie in which she plays Dr. Ellie Sattler (a role she reprised just last year in Universal Pictures' Jurassic World Dominion), but from the video for Taylor Swift's "Bejeweled," released last October, in which Dern plays a riff on Cinderella's Wicked Stepmother alongside the Haim sisters and Swift herself. It's just another indication of how timeless and present Dern is with her career. No matter how big the past projects get, new projects come along to eclipse them.

Who knows, though? Maybe one day Dern will be visiting a Taylor Swift theme park and will get recognized as "that girl from the dinosaur movies." 

In the mood for some dino-sized action? Check out Jurassic World, streaming now on Peacock.