Colin Trevorrow, who wrote and directed Jurassic World and wrote Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom spoke to BDH Network in an exclusive interview in regards to Bryce Dallas Howard and her character Claire Dearing in the Jurassic World films. He talked about the process of evolving the female lead character from the original Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver script, the process of hiring Bryce for the role, how Claire got her name and even touched on what we can expect from Claire in Jurassic World 3, among other topics.
The very first question posed to Colin was about what the female lead character was like in the Jurassic Park 4 script that Universal Pictures had originally green-lighted for a June 2014 release. The original script was co-written by husband and wife writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver before Colin was even hired to direct the fourth installment of the franchise. Colin and writing partner Derek Connolly rewrote the script from scratch while incorporating some important story elements that Steven Spielberg had requested, such as an operational park. The movie was delayed one year to a June 2015 release to allow proper time to prepare for the finalized script and story. But had the Jaffa and Silver script been filmed, our leads would not have been Claire and Owen, but instead Whitney and Vance. It also seems like the idea of “training raptors” would have been taken a lot further than what we get on screen in Jurassic World or even Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
The lead character was a guy called Vance, who ultimately became Owen in our story. The film opened with Vance jumping out of a helicopter with a pack of raptors on a military raid of a drug dealer’s compound in Colombia. It was a different approach. But there was a character who had one or two scenes, the manager for the corporate side of the park. I think her name was Whitney. She was an antagonist to the hero, putting up red tape.
Colin goes on in the interview to describe the process of how casting director, John Papsidera, set up a Skype call between him and Bryce to discuss her joining the film. Also elaborating the relationship she had with Spielberg and that she was already part of the “Amblin Family”. Spielberg himself was also confident that she could “create this specific character better than anyone”.
As for how Claire Dearing got her name it turns out it was a bit of a group effort with Colin choosing “Claire” and Derek choosing “Dearing”. Colin felt the name of Claire was warm and loving and Derek chose Dearing as a reference to her character being very endearing.
I chose Claire, it felt hard on the surface but ultimately warm and loving. Derek chose Dearing, which is a very Derek thing to do. He loves those Dickensian names that suggest a bit about the character, push the viewer in the direction the author wants them to go. She may seem sharp-edged at first, but ultimately she’s very endearing.
Of course no one should be surprised that the characters of Claire and Owen will be returning for the final installment in the trilogy, which is set to hit theaters on June 11, 2021. Colin and newcomer Emily Carmichael are working on the script as we speak based on a story Colin created with Derek Connolly. While Colin couldn’t share much on the sixth installment of the franchise, he did reiterate that Claire and Owen will have a lot on their plate now that dinosaurs are loose on the mainland and that other dinosaurs and DNA samples were sold or moved to other parts of the world.
She and Owen will have bigger conflicts at hand, with shared responsibilities and a shared need for redemption. That’s a compelling story I’m excited to tell.
To see the full answers Colin had for the questions featured here and other intriguing questions about Bryce and her character Claire, please visit BDH Network and view their visit digital magazine. Also, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below and on our forums.
Source: BDH Network
