Jonathan Bailey brings his signature wit and iconic glasses to Jurassic World Rebirth, now available at home

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To celebrate the home entertainment release of Jurassic World Rebirth, which now available to own or rent exclusively on digital platforms, we sat down for an exclusive interview with the newest addition to the food chain, Jonathan Bailey, and director Gareth Edwards to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on their colossal new adventure, which mostly takes place in Thailand.

The duo revealed the unscripted moments that brought real tears to the set, the “horror token” economy that fuels the film’s biggest scares, and the hilarious on-set battle against a pair of “little glasses” that has excited Bailey fans around the world.

Filmed in the jungles of Krabi and Phang Nga Bay, the film set was also a place where the realities of blockbuster filmmaking provided their own comedy. One of the bonus features on the digital is a gag reel featuring Dr. Henry’s glasses repeatedly flying off his face became an instant favorite — it is one of the most entertaining highlights in the bonus features.

Bailey recalled Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali assuring him the glasses could be added in post-production if needed. “And I was like, of course. But there I was committing to the scene every time,” he said as he laughed. The Wicked star, for his part, has the final, hilarious word on his character’s signature accessory: “The sl—y little glasses sometimes were too sl—y for even me.”

Q&A with Jonathan Bailey and Gareth Edwards

Jonathan, you have great comic timing. I haven’t seen that side to you before and humour is a pillar of the franchise. How much of it was improv and bringing a little bit of you to Henry?
Gareth Edwards: A lot, to be fair.

Jonathan Bailey: Do you think? Oh yeah, the Altoids.

GE: I mean it’s in the script, but the timing is in the delivery. The bit when you come up in the shot beside Scarlett…

JB: That was my idea. Well, I just thought because the introduction of the mints, it was so clear, and it was in the script, so it’s brilliant. And, yeah, you’re totally right. Like, the tone of the Jurassic franchise and so many beloved films, is keeping a wit and a sense of adventure. And there’s a there’s a just a low bubble of humour.

GE: That said, David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay, is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met. And what I learned from him is that every time you make a joke in a Jurassic film, you get a horror token.

JB: Oh that’s good.

GE: And so you can do something quite horrific later. And so, like, we were trying to make as much humor as possible in the screenplay so that we could just spend it all at the end and do a horror films for kids.

I loved the blooper reel in the Krabi jungle after he falls off the cliff and you held your breath even though you felt something in the water? Gareth, how much of a gift was that for you as a director?
GE: The thing you’re trying to get out of an actor, half the time is the stuff that’s really hard to teach or be born with. So in a way, you get the opposite problem with Jonathan, which is he gives you so much; like ideas and different variations on takes and gags and then another idea the next take that really it’s like trying to get rid of things than it is trying to get something out of it.

JB: A happy mediocrity (laughs) Nothing’s refined.

That moment when Dr. Henry is moved to tears when he sees the dinosaurs, was so pure and it’s clear he is so passionate about what he does.
JB: That wasn’t scripted.

GE: What was always gonna be in this moment where you got to witness for the first time was the beauty, the majesty of these giant Titanosaurs. And there was this moment, and it was always in the back of my mind, like, I just love this idea of Jonathan touching one of them. So we just stood there and I was like, I think he would go up and touch one. So let’s not rehearse it. Just on the next take, just go up to him. So we haven’t got a real dinosaur, sorry kids, but we’ve got a guy called Colin. He was always there in a big blue tube and so that was true acting because Jonathan was going up having one of the most emotional reactions you could ever have. And Colin is there exhausted going because he’s having to run across this field in the tall grass.

JB: But also Gareth operated the camera at that point. That is an example that in these big amazing films, when you’re directed by someone as brilliant and as genial as Gareth is that suddenly it’s down to a few people just with Colin on a blue tube and Gareth with a camera. It was a really special thing. And I think that that’s what the dinosaur franchise is — it is about the dinosaurs and it is about those moments where we remind ourselves of just how brilliant they are and the natural world is.

Jonathan, I know everyone is obsessed with your glasses, but what I especially loved in the bonus features is the gag reel clip where Henry’s glasses just keep falling off. How many takes did you do?
GE: What I think what’s not clear in that gag reel because when you watch that gag reel, you’re like, are the crew idiots? Like, why do they keep filming? But what we’re hearing is these giant fan machines and I’m looking at the VFX of it all.

JB: But also, Scarlett and Mahershala, quite rightly were like, the one thing that they can do in a Jurassic film is they can put them on in post. If they had the perfect shot and they’ve fallen off. I was like, of course. But there I was really committing to the scene every time. But, yeah, the slu**y little glasses sometimes were too slu**y for even me.

Jurassic World Rebirth is now available on digital platforms to own or rent and on 4K UHD, Blu-Ray and DVD September 9.