Awkward age gap

Laura Dern’s Doctor Ellie Sattler and Sam Neill’s Doctor Alan Grant eventually fall in love by the end of the movie, but that didn’t sit well with audience members.

When making the film, Laura was 23 years old, while Sam was 20 years her senior, making their romance a bit of a head-scratcher for some.

Still, the actress insisted it felt “completely appropriate” for the pair to end up as a couple.

She later said: “Well, it felt completely appropriate to fall in love with Sam Neill.

“And it was only now, when we returned in a moment of cultural awareness about the patriarchy, that I was, like, ‘Wow! We’re not the same age?’”

Sam has also admitted the large age gap had “never occurred” to him during the shoot.

He said: “I am 20 years older than Laura! Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady.

It never occurred to me until I opened a magazine and there was an article called ‘Old Geezers and Gals.’ People like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery acting with much younger people. And there I was, on the list. I thought, ‘Come on. It can’t be true.’”