DeWanda Wise Gives Vanessa Lee Chester, The Young Black actress In 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park,' Her Flowers
essence.comDeWanda Wise is being heralded as the first Black woman featured in the Jurassic franchise for her role as Kayla Watts in Jurassic World Dominion, in theaters today.
But the actress is quick to remind media that before Watts there was Vanessa Lee Chester, the then-13-year-old child star who played Kelly Malcolm in Steven Spielberg‘s 1997 action flick The Lost World: Jurassic Park.“There will be no Kelly erasure,” says Wise as she reflects on the impact of seeing Chester on screen at that time. “I was talking to somebody about it the other day and they were talking about being a young gymnast and seeing that for the first time at that time.
She’s just like flipping through the Jurassic Park sequel just being Jeff Goldblum’s daughter. It’s phenomenal to see.” Wise also points out there have been a number of Black characters throughout the Jurassic world, both in the books and on-screen adaptations, including Samuel L.
Jackson who appeared in the original 1993 film. “This franchise, blessedly, already has a good rapport with Black folks,” she adds. “So stepping into something and deducing what that will look like and feel like behind Omar Sy, behind Justice Smith in the Jurassic World franchise, to bring that wild feminine energy into the mix, it was my honor.
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