The man behind Alan Grant responds to his onscreen connection to Jonathan Bailey.

Jurassic Park star Sam Neill reacts to Jurassic World Rebirth Alan Grant callout: ‘I was surprised’

The man behind Alan Grant responds to his onscreen connection to Jonathan Bailey.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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February 8, 2026 4:00 p.m. ET

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Sam Neill responds 'Jurassic World Rebirth' Alan Grant callout. Credit:

Murray Close/Getty; Universal Studios

Original *Jurassic Park* star Sam Neill was just as pleasantly surprised to see the connection between his character Alan Grant and the latest franchise entry, *Jurassic World Rebirth*.

Jonathan Bailey starred in that 2025 blockbuster as Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist who casually mentions in the movie how he studied under Neill's character.

"I was surprised," Neill tells ** of the callout in a new interview for his Xfinity Super Bowl commercial. "It's nice when these things refer to each other, and I thought that was respectful and good."

Sam Neill in Xfinity Super Bowl ad, inspired by 'Jurassic Park'.

Comcast and NBCUniversal

The actor hasn't met Bailey yet, but adds of *PEOPLE* magazine's current Sexiest Man Alive, "I look forward to that."

Neill is talking all things *Jurassic* in light of Xfinity's Super Bowl ad, set to air during the NFL's Big Game. He reunites with fellow *Jurassic Park* stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum to reimagine what that 1993 Steven Spielberg movie would've been like had Xfinity's reliable Wi-Fi prevented the park security from shutting down.

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Dern returns as paleobotanist Ellie Sattler, with Goldblum once again playing chaos theory mathematician Ian Malcolm. All three reimagine classic scenes from the original, including Alan and Ian parked in front of the rain-soaked T. rex exhibit, as well as Ellie declaring before a raptor attack, "I think we're back in business."

Jonathan Bailey's Dr. Henry Loomis in 'Jurassic World Rebirth'.

Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

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*Jurassic World Rebirth* starred Bailey alongside Scarlett Johansson's Zora Bennett and Mahershala Ali's Duncan Kincaid, part of a group hired by Big Pharma to extract the DNA from the three largest dinosaurs in the last sustainable dinosaur habitat.

When asked about the Alan Grant connection to Henry Loomis, director Gareth Edwards replied, "It's actually the only reference to anybody from another *Jurassic* film. Then the only thing that we did for fun, I designed a little patch that went on his bag that was the Snakewater Canyon." That location in Montana was the paleontology dig site featured in the opening scene of *Jurassic Park*. "It was as if it was a national park badge of that dig site, as if [Henry] had worked there as a kid," Edwards added.

As for Johansson in the movie, Neill calls it "a family affair," having played the actress' onscreen dad in 1998's *The Horse Whisperer*, directed by and starring Robert Redford. "I feel like my daughter, she's capable of kicking any ass," he says. "She gets it from me."**

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Source: “EW Sci-Fi”