Ellie Sattler
Dr. Ellie Sattler is a fictional character in the Jurassic Park franchise. She is introduced in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park, which began the franchise. Steven Spielberg directed the 1993 film adaptation, casting Laura Dern as Sattler and giving the character a more substantial role compared to the novel. She is a paleobotanist in both the novel and its film adaptation. In the novel, she is a student of Dr. Alan Grant. For the film, Spielberg made them a romantic couple, with Sam Neill portraying Grant.
Dern briefly reprised the role in 2001's Jurassic Park III. In the film, Sattler and Grant have broken off their relationship but remain friends. She is married to Mark and has two children. Dern's character was initially absent from the film, but script rewrites during pre-production added a small role for her. Director Joe Johnston chose to break-up Grant and Sattler, believing that Dern looked too young to be in such a relationship; Neill is 20 years older than Dern.
Dern and Neill would return again for major roles in Jurassic World Dominion, released in 2022. In the film, Sattler is divorced and now working as a soil scientist. She and Grant eventually rekindle their romantic relationship. Colin Trevorrow, the film's director and co-writer, was in agreement with Dern and Neill on reuniting their characters romantically. Trevorrow and co-writer Emily Carmichael also wanted Sattler to have a major part in the film, helping to drive its plot. Dern's interest in climate change was incorporated into the character, inspiring Sattler's occupation as a soil scientist.
Dern and Neill also reprised their roles for the video games Jurassic World Evolution and Jurassic World Evolution 2, lending their voices to downloadable content packs released in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
Dern named Sattler as her favorite role in 2019. The first film gave Dern international recognition, and is often ranked among her best performances, seen by some critics as a modern portrayal of an action heroine. Dern considers the character a feminist icon of the 1990s.
Fictional background
Novels
In the first novel, Sattler is a paleobotanist and graduate student who is studying under paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant. John Hammond's investors demand that he bring experts to his island, Isla Nublar, to certify the safety of a new theme park he is building there called Jurassic Park. Grant and Sattler agree to Hammond's invitation to tour the park, in exchange for $50,000 of funding for the dig site. They are awestruck to learn that Hammond has cloned living dinosaurs.Although Sattler is initially thrilled to see the park, she finds poisonous plants in public areas and near swimming pools, and is angered by how little attention the staff has given to reproducing prehistoric plant life. After a tour, the rest of the group returns to the Visitor Center while Sattler stays with veterinarian Dr. Harding, to take pictures of a sick Stegosaurus. The dinosaurs eventually escape, and after a Tyrannosaurus attack, Sattler helps Harding care for Dr. Ian Malcolm's injuries. During a Velociraptor assault on the Visitor Center, Sattler uses herself as bait to distract the pack of raptors trying to get into the lodge.
In the novel, it is stated that she plans to marry a Chicago doctor sometime the following year. She is briefly mentioned in Michael Crichton's sequel novel, The Lost World, in which she is now known as Ellie Sattler Reiman. It is stated that she married a physicist and gives guest lectures at his workplace, University of California, Berkeley, while raising two young children.
Films
''Jurassic Park''
The film adaptation of Jurassic Park generally uses the same story and characters as the novel, though with some differences. In particular, it depicts Sattler in a relationship with Grant, instead of being his graduate student. She wants to have children, but Grant is resistant to the idea of starting a family. Over the course of the film, he warms up to Hammond's grandchildren and protects them. Malcolm flirts with Sattler on several occasions, much to the complete annoyance of Grant.''Jurassic Park III''
Ellie has a minor role in Jurassic Park III. She and Grant had ended their romantic relationship on good terms sometime after the first film, but they still remain close friends. She is now married to Mark, an employee of the U.S. State Department, and she is in the process of writing a book. They have two children, including a three-year-old boy, named Charlie and a baby. Grant has continued his Velociraptor research, which he discusses with Ellie while visiting her, which implies by their conversation that she is traumatized by her encounter with them at Jurassic Park. Later, Grant contacts Ellie for help after he and others become stranded on Isla Sorna.''Jurassic World Dominion''
Ellie and Mark have divorced and their children are now in college. She enjoys her new-found freedom and now works as a soil scientist. She launches an investigation when giant locusts emerge and begin rapidly consuming crops, threatening the world's food supply. Ellie learns that the insects are bypassing crops which use Biosyn's seeds, leading her to suspect that the company has engineered the insects to boost its own profits.Grant, who is now an older man, with no family, has continued his work in paleontology. He and Ellie have not seen each other for sometime. She visits him at his dig site in Utah and convinces him to accompany her to Biosyn's headquarters in Italy, to look for incriminating evidence. They receive help from Malcolm, who now works for the company as an in-house philosopher. While at Biosyn, Ellie and Grant meet Maisie Lockwood and her adoptive parents, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing. Ellie reveals that she was good friends with Maisie's mother, Charlotte, before her death. Biosyn is eventually brought down. Grant and Ellie rekindle their romantic relationship, and prepare to testify against Biosyn in Washington, D.C.
Production background
''Jurassic Park'' film adaptation
Unlike the novel, Sattler has a more prominent role in the 1993 film adaptation, as director Steven Spielberg felt she did not get enough attention in the book. Because of plot alterations in the film, Sattler does many of the things done by Donald Gennaro in the novel. In the film, it is Sattler who ventures out of the bunker with Robert Muldoon to bring the park's power systems online. Spielberg also made Sattler and Grant a romantic couple to add tension.Actresses considered for the role included Robin Wright Penn, Gwyneth Paltrow, Helen Hunt, and Stacy Haiduk. Juliette Binoche had been considered as well, but was already attached to Three Colours: Blue. Early on, producer Kathleen Kennedy was interested in casting Laura Dern as Sattler. According to Spielberg: "That was a tough choice. I never thought of Laura in the context of Jurassic Park because I saw her as kind of frail and always being pursued by circumstances and men. I never envisioned her as a tough gal, like Linda Hamilton or Sigourney Weaver. But, actually, she didn't need to be. She wasn't required to play that kind of character in the film. Ellie is more of a brain".
Spielberg was impressed with her roles in the films Smooth Talk and Rambling Rose. Nicolas Cage, who was Dern's co-star in the film Wild at Heart, urged her to accept the role as Sattler. Compared to her previous films, Jurassic Park was a departure for Dern, which prompted her to take the role. She said, "It isn't about me finding my emotional motivation for each scene. It's certainly not quite the kind of acting I've done in the past. Sure, my character is fleshed out some from the book, but it's still all in the context of a movie that deals with dinosaurs".
Dern said that she worked with the filmmakers to avoid portraying Sattler as an "oversexualised action heroine". This included her appearance, which consisted of basic shorts, "no-nonsense" boots, a lack of facial makeup, and an updo, making for a practical look rather than that of a pin-up model. Dern said, "Every decision seemed simple, but little decisions like making her wear eyeglasses in the scenes where she's working helped her feel more defined". She collaborated with Kennedy on the character's appearance, and worked with writer David Koepp to incorporate some instances of feminist dialogue:
- Early on, Malcolm jokes: "God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs". Sattler responds: "Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth".
- Later, Hammond implies that because he is a man, he should be the one to venture out to a nearby maintenance shed to restore power to the park. Sattler rebukes him, saying "we can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back".
''Jurassic Park III''
Unlike the first film, Jurassic Park III was directed by Joe Johnston, with Spielberg as executive producer instead. Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor were hired to rewrite the script prior to filming. Ellie was absent from the previous draft, so Payne and Taylor decided to write in a small part for Dern to reprise the character. The two had previously written Citizen Ruth, which starred Dern, and she had also co-starred in Johnston's film October Sky. Johnston did not wish to have Ellie travel to the island for a major role. He found such an idea hard to believe, especially considering that she was now married and had two children. Dern was hesitant to return only for a cameo, so Spielberg suggested that Ellie have an important role in saving the characters on the island. Dern was convinced after Spielberg told her that Payne and Taylor were working on the script. Her scenes were shot in a day.In one early draft, the U.S. State Department would send a helicopter and Ellie to rescue the characters, with Ellie explaining that she arrived thanks to a good friend at the department. Ellie's role here would ultimately be replaced by the arrival of the U.S. Navy, which the filmmakers considered a more exciting ending. Although Ellie's husband Mark is stated to be an employee of the State Department, his involvement in rescuing the group is not specified.
Regarding the break-up of Grant and Sattler, actor Sam Neill said that his character was so "anti-child in the first film she needed someone else". Neill liked how the script handled their break-up, with the two remaining close friends. In an early draft, Alan and Ellie were a couple in the process of splitting up. However, Johnston said: "I didn't want to see them as a couple anymore. For one thing, I don't think they look like a couple. It would be uncomfortable to still see them together. And Laura Dern doesn't look like she's aged for the past fifteen years!"