With Jurassic World Rebirth now available on Digital HD, I recently caught up with stars Luna Blaise (Fresh Off The Boat; Manifest) and David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty; Fear Street: Prom Queen) in Thailand to talk about everything from surviving the now-iconic T-Rex River Chase to building an on-screen family that feels as real as it looks.
We dug into how Luna approached one of the film’s biggest action sequences, how David found the balance between comedy and heroics, and what it was like to learn from a legendary co-star like Scarlett Johansson. Plus, they shared how shooting on location in Thailand, London, and the Mediterranean shaped the cast’s chemistry in ways no soundstage could replicate.
Watch our full chat below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Luna, the T-Rex river chase is one of the film’s most pulse-pounding set pieces. What was it like bringing that sequence to life, and how much of it was as intense to shoot as it looks on screen?
LUNA: Yeah, it was pretty cool. I feel like it's one of the more iconic moments in the movie, of just like nostalgia and just like a full Spielberg, whole situation going on, but definitely reading that scene for me at least, you know, getting the moment of going and getting the raft and, you know, going through like all the different steps, just felt very cinematic and super cool, and I think doing it was so fun. We got to film it half in Thailand. The little beginning is in Thailand. We filmed the rest in London, and it was so cool to see the whole thing come together in such an awesome way. And I definitely don't think the movie would be the same without it.
DAVID: I also don't think without Luna's performance, that beginning of that scene works. I think you did such a good job of keeping the stakes high and the tension high in the beginning. She paid me to say that. *Luna laughs*
ROHAN: David, your character goes from lighthearted comic relief to someone the audience really respects by the end. How did you approach that transformation while keeping the humor intact?
DAVID: Yeah, it was an interesting conversation, especially to be had in the middle of the Mediterranean and also in the middle of the jungle, to be talking about someone's character arc was something that was very thrilling for me in that environment. But the main thing was that we wanted to toe that line of being likable, but also still having the comedic element of Xavier's character very present.
LUNA: He’s fully the comedic relief. He’s so good.
DAVID: Yeah, totally, the way that he's written, thank you. So, yeah, I think we didn't want him to come off as too unlikable in the beginning, so that by the end of it, the audience does kind of respect him, and you do win the audience over. So, I think that was the biggest challenge, being annoying in a charming way.
ROHAN: Luna, you spent a lot of time on set with Scarlett Johansson. What were some of the biggest takeaways or lessons from working alongside her?
LUNA: Yeah, it was cool. She, I mean, stands the test of time somehow. She's like one of one, but I mean, having, you know, a mentor with someone that was like through the movie as much as you were like the whole time, and being able to just like woman to woman, lock in, and be like, this is how you should operate, and this is how you need to sort of just maneuver your way through this whole thing was so amazing. Honestly, I was so blessed to have her as an anchor, not only just for me, but for everyone I can speak for, you know, on set, just having her was so special and definitely, you know, as another female lead in this movie for myself, just being able to have all those moments that really like stood out, and being able to have just like advice from everyone on set was just so special and so cool. And, you know, definitely, I feel like the filming experience of this movie for everyone was memorable to a very high degree. It was a one of one experience. And I'm so thrilled with how everything turned out, and the reactions of everyone have been so special and amazing, and, you know, just getting all of those moments is so cool, and I'm so happy that everyone is finally getting to enjoy it. It's really cool.
ROHAN: David, this cast really feels like a family on screen. What moments during filming helped build that bond off camera?
DAVID: I personally feel like…
LUNA: Like Day One.
DAVID: Oh, yeah, totally. Well, that day was unbelievable. Our first day shooting was in the jungle in Thailand. It was pouring rain, and the stakes were so high.
LUNA: But even before that, though.
DAVID: Well, totally, I was going to say, when we were on the sailboat in Malta, I think before that, off camera, we were all very colloquial to one another, and it felt like a real family dynamic. But I felt like every time we shot after we were on that sailboat, I felt like even on screen, you guys were like my family. And I just think, because it was just us with a very small crew on the sailboat in the middle of the Mediterranean. It was a real sailboat, so it was just like having boots on the ground with each other in the beaming hot sun, and we were all, like, dehydrated, and I don't know, I just think—
LUNA: It was crazy. Yeah, it was definitely an experience that bonds people, that one that brings people together.
DAVID: Even if you don't want to. *laughs*
A new era is born. This summer, three years after the Jurassic World trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new direction with Jurassic World Rebirth.
Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind.
Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.
Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.
Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.