jurassic park became an instant classic when it was released 30 years ago on June 11, 1993 – and the killer T. rex and his prehistoric pals deserve a lot of the credit for that (along with their puppeteer, Steven Spielberg). But the human ensemble was also top notch: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Samuel L. Jackson and the late great Richard Attenborough.
Still, no cast member was more celebrated (or at least remembered) than Jeff Goldblum, who got all the best lines as Dr. Ian Malcolm, the resident devil’s advocate and chaos theorist.
In a Role reminder interview with Yahoo Entertainment (watch the clip above), Goldblum took Yahoo Entertainment through its most memorable moments, starting with the now-legendary scene where an injured Malcolm shows skin as he seductively lays down on a couch at the height of the film’s chaos.
“I’m in pain. … I stoically and manly bear some kind of pain,” Goldblum explained. “And, well, this is Hawaii – or, well, this is supposed to be Costa Rica – so it’s hot and I’m sure I have some kind of fever, so the whole logic is that you need to take off some of those wet clothes right away.
Goldblum can’t remember who came up with the idea of stripping, but he’s well aware of his place in pop culture. “Now we have to look at photos and paintings of it,” he said before referring to the famous toy brand Funko, which took the scene to a whole new level by offering a Malcolm figurine whose chest is exposed. Mattel also got in on the action by releasing their own “chaos theory” action figure.
Fans also latched onto Malcolm’s goofy laugh (or “suggestive gurgling,” as the actor describes it) during an early scene on a helicopter. It got an EDM remix that has over 4 million views.
“It was one of the first things we shot,” Goldblum recalled. “We were right on top of me, and it just happened. I don’t even think he said [I laugh] in the script.
Watch our full Role reminder interview with Jeff Goldblum:
Editor’s note: A version of this story was first published on June 11, 2018.