10 Things You Didn't Know About Jurassic Park

5. Joseph Mazzello Auditioned For Spielberg's Hook, But Was Turned Down

Universal Pictures

Known to audiences the world over in the 90s as the annoying kid that wouldn't leave Dr. Grant alone and got electrocuted by a giant electric fence, Joseph Mazzello's role in Jurassic Park wasn't the first directed by Spielberg that Mazzello had auditioned for. The then child actor had auditioned for Spielberg's Hook prior to landing a part in Jurassic Park, but was turned down by Hook's casting directors for being too young. Spielberg commented at the time that he promised to give Mazzello a part in a future movie of his - the film subsequently turning out to be Jurassic Park.

Mazzello must have been ecstatic in retrospect. While Hook is often cited as many people's favourite childhood film, it was considered a disappointment by TriStar Pictures and received less than glowing reviews from critics. Jurassic Park, on the other hand, received critical acclaim and was the highest-grossing film of all time upon its release, only being topped by James Cameron's Titanic in 1997. Mazzello still performs today, most notably appearing in The Pacific and The Social Network.

In this post: 
Jurassic Park
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.