Where Are the Jurassic Park Kids Now?

1993 came with a lot of good movies, but nothing beat Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. This movie gave us the most real-looking (for that time) and terrifying dinosaurs, and a brand-new anxiety trigger called “raptors working a door handle.” While the adults argued about science and hubris, the movie’s most dramatic performance belonged to Tim and Lex Murphy—the unfortunate grandkids who got the worst “family trip” experience imaginable.

Jurassic Park turned Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards into poster children of the franchise’s original panic. For more than 30 years, they’ve been quietly building lives that make total sense for two people who embraced chaos as a part of their lives.

Joseph Mazzellom

Tim Murphy, who loved dinosaurs, was electrocuted but got up. Joseph Mazzello’s career has some thematic similarities. He stayed in the industry, moved into adult roles, and expanded into directing and writing.

Mazzello has said Steven Spielberg wrote him a recommendation letter that helped him get into USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and he later earned a degree in cinema and television. How can one top this kind of mentorship flex, especially since Spielberg is also responsible for half your childhood?

He kept landing big and, what’s more important, various roles rather than living forever in “former child star” purgatory. His best-known adult credits include HBO’s WWII miniseries The Pacific, The Social Network, and Bohemian Rhapsody, where he portrayed the Queen bassist John Deacon.

He’s also made his own movie, Undrafted, in 2016, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. Not too shabby for Spielberg’s protégé.