It is rare for an actor to be a part of a multi-billion dollar movie franchise, but Bryce Dallas Howard and DeWanda Wise know what that’s like firsthand.
The actresses, who both starred in Jurassic World: Dominion earlier this year, are just two of the necessary pieces that have made these films, and the original Jurassic Park franchise, the massive box office hits they have been. Just weeks after Jurassic World: Dominion’s home entertainment release, the film is still on the brink of crossing the $1 billion threshold at the global box office, currently sitting at $979.9 million. Jurassic World amassed a total of $1.6 billion since its 2015 release, while its sequelFallen Kingdom made $1.3 billion globally. Regardless of how some fans or critics felt about the films, the numbers don’t lie.
Howard has been part of theJurassic Worldfranchise since the start. The actress played Claire Dearing, who was the park operations manager at Jurassic World. After the collapse of the park, she realized the mistakes she had made by working for the company, and in Fallen Kingdom viewers learned that she founded the Dinosaur Protection Group to help the remaining dinosaurs survive.
It is rare for an actor to be a part of a multi-billion dollar movie franchise, but Bryce Dallas Howard and DeWanda Wise know what that’s like firsthand.
The actresses, who both starred in Jurassic World: Dominion earlier this year, are just two of the necessary pieces that have made these films, and the original Jurassic Park franchise, the massive box office hits they have been. Just weeks after Jurassic World: Dominion’s home entertainment release, the film is still on the brink of crossing the $1 billion threshold at the global box office, currently sitting at $979.9 million. Jurassic World amassed a total of $1.6 billion since its 2015 release, while its sequelFallen Kingdom made $1.3 billion globally. Regardless of how some fans or critics felt about the films, the numbers don’t lie.
Howard has been part of theJurassic Worldfranchise since the start. The actress played Claire Dearing, who was the park operations manager at Jurassic World. After the collapse of the park, she realized the mistakes she had made by working for the company, and in Fallen Kingdom viewers learned that she founded the Dinosaur Protection Group to help the remaining dinosaurs survive.
Image via Universal Pictures
Wise joined the franchise’s final film as Kayla Watts, who is a contract pilot who works for Biosyn by helping them transport dinosaurs. Wise’s character in Dominion follows a similar path as Claire’s. When Kayla witnesses an injustice, she then joins Claire and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) in their mission to rescue their child Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) who has been kidnapped by the corrupt company.
Women have always been at the center of these franchises. Jurassic Park introduced paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), who inspired a generation of young women. In Dominion, Kayla, Claire, and Dr. Sattler all join forces to fight a common enemy and escape dinosaurs, and their presence in the film enriches the story and allows women viewers to feel represented in these types of blockbuster films. The women are all just as capable, strong, intelligent, and equipped to help the group find their way out of danger as the men are—and director Colin Trevorrow made it a point to have more women on the poster than men this time around.
Reboots can work but only when done well. People kept returning to theaters for each one of this franchise’s films thanks to the creators’ devotion to doing right by the original novels and the Jurassic Park films, adding more representation, while also maintaining the dinosaur action fans know and love. “It’s a wonderful experience because you just can’t center it on yourself at any point and you can’t attribute the success of any of these to you in any way shape or form,” Howard tells Complex. “Michael Crichton created it, and Steven Spielberg birthed it and that cinema, that legacy that exists in cinema because of it, we’re just riding on those coattails.”
Complex attended a celebration of the ending of the Jurassic World franchise in Malta, where some of the action-packed Dominions scenes were filmed. We caught up with Howard and Wise to chat about being part of the iconic films, representing women, and why they think the franchise was so successful. Check out our interview with the actresses below.
The film is about to hit $1 billion at the office. How does it feel to know that so many people have flocked to the theaters to see your work?
DeWanda Wise: I think just being a part of a franchise that has the exceptionally beautiful legacy that it does, obviously the number of people aside, now we’re generations into a global audience of people who have all been in the movie theater experiencing the same thing at the same time. It’s impossible to really fully wrap your mind around it. It’s beyond special, there’s really no word for it.
What do you think is the magic that really made this new franchise something that people really loved?
Bryce Dallas Howard: Well, I think that Colin, our director, is a brilliant storyteller and really deeply understands as a fan himself what we crave when we a. Go to the movies and b. Go to a Jurassic movie. I loved being a part of this and we all loved being a part of this in large part because none of the humans are the stars.
DW: Yeah. We all know that. Whenever anybody is like, “Were you nervous?” I’m just like, “I’m not the star!” [Laughs.]
BDH: The dinosaurs are the stars. It’s a wonderful experience because you just can’t center it on yourself at any point and you can’t attribute the success of any of these to you in any way shape or form because Michael Crichton created it, and Steven Spielberg birthed it and that cinema, that legacy that exists in cinema because of it is something that you know, we’re just riding on those coattails.
DW: We’re just going to jump on the ride.
One of the reasons why I love these movies it’s because women have always been centered. In Jurassic World, there are more women on the poster than men. Do you think that’s part of the appeal of these films and why they’ve been so successful?
DW: I think so I think to your point the inclusivity of this franchise in every way, with women, people of color, it’s always been really baked into it. There’s nothing contrived about it and I am thankful that you just recognized that it’s been a franchise and it’s only growing. And now it’s really funny because it was such a big splash, and they were like, “Women are taking over!” And we’re like, it’s just equitable. It’s just equal, that’s it. It just represents the world now. It’s an honor to be in something that’s like that and to have a director and a visionary like Colin who is so thoughtful about making sure that that’s a reality.
Bryce, Dr. Ellie Sattler was so inspirational to young women back then, and now what do you hope that they got from Claire?
BDH: Something that I really like about Claire is not only is she not perfect but she’s hugely flawed and has made catastrophic mistakes that have been on the wrong side of history. And when she realized she was on the wrong side of history, she tried to make it right and she made it worse. I love playing a person who is trying and keeps trying and doesn’t need to necessarily be successful and that doesn’t determine whether or not she’s going to keep trying. What did you say in a previous interview about human beings that are flawed?
DW: It’s essentially this notion that invites the audience in because it presents this heroine that recognizes we all have access to that aspect of ourselves.
BDH: This is what DeWanda said, that even if you don’t feel heroic you can be heroic. You can do heroic things. I think she is someone who is realizing that she doesn’t got it. [Laughs.] And allows that to inform her choices moving forward so that she can be a part of the solution. Her being committed to that is something that I really admire.
I know Kayla is similar so I hope that maybe we see a sequel with her as the lead?
DW: I’d be so into it.
Dominion is now available in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and digital and will be available to stream on Peacock starting on Sept. 2.