'Jurassic World: Dominion' Cast Visits Korea for Release
"It is an honor to join the world I experienced at age ten"
Director Edwards: "Exploring the relationship between humanity and nature"
"A childhood dream has come true." This was the reflection of Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson, who visited South Korea for the release of the film "Jurassic World: Dominion." At a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul on July 1, she said, "I still vividly remember watching 'Jurassic Park' (1993) in the theater with my family when I was ten years old. I experienced wonder, surprise, and fear together with the other audience members," adding, "It is an honor to be part of that universe."
"Jurassic World: Dominion" is the fourth installment in the "Jurassic World" reboot series, which is based on Steven Spielberg's masterpiece "Jurassic Park." The film follows the breathless journey of special operations expert Zora (Scarlett Johansson) and paleontologist Henry (Jonathan Bailey) as they enter the island housing the secret research lab of Jurassic Park.
Johansson, a self-proclaimed fan of "Jurassic Park," was cast after expressing a strong desire to join the film. At the time, the role of Zora had not yet been assigned a gender, so she offered various suggestions to the production team. She said, "Executive producer Steven Spielberg and others accepted my ideas and revised the script accordingly," adding, "It feels as if my imagination has become reality." Regarding the character of Zora, she explained, "She is someone who has worked as a mercenary all her life and is now experiencing burnout," and introduced her as "a person who decides she must finally do something for herself."
Throughout the film, Johansson conveys intense tension as she is constantly running or hiding from dinosaurs. On set, however, she acted while looking at a tennis ball attached to a stick instead of an actual dinosaur. In post-production, the crew used computer graphics (CG) to transform the tennis ball into a terrifying dinosaur. Johansson recalled, "The most difficult part of filming was maintaining emotions like fear and tension while looking at a tennis ball," and added, "Even when expressing wonder or amazement, I had to convey those feelings while staring at the tennis ball."
The challenges extended to director Gareth Edwards, who also visited South Korea. The main challenge was the reputation of the "Jurassic" series itself. Since this film marks a new beginning for the franchise, he admitted to feeling an unspoken pressure. He said, "I struggled to find a path between preserving the original's unique identity and introducing something new," and added, "As a longtime fan of 'Jurassic Park,' I wanted to create the film as a love letter to Steven Spielberg." He went on to say, "'Jurassic World: Dominion' is an entertaining film for audiences, but I believed the storytelling would only be complete if it included an important message," emphasizing, "I wanted to convey how much caution humanity must exercise in its relationship with nature."
Director Edwards, who has consistently presented monster and sci-fi films such as "Godzilla" (2014), "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016), and "The Creator" (2023), visited South Korea for the second time. In 2010, he won the Best Director award in the feature film category at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival for his low-budget film "Monsters." He said, "At the time, I thought Korean audiences had the best taste in the world," and added, "As a cinephile, it was a great experience."
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