Where You’ve Seen Them Before: The Cast of “Jurassic World”

Of course the dinosaurs and the geniuses at ILM who created them are the real stars of “Jurassic World.”  But the highest compliment we can pay the human performers is that they can hold their own next to the CGI dinos.  If they look familiar, it may be because you’ve seen them before.

Nick Robinson plays Zach, a teenager visiting the Jurassic World theme park.  I first noticed him in the hilarious Cox commercials, but he also starred in the terrific independent film, The Kings of Summer and on Melissa & Joey.

Chris Pratt starred in two of the biggest movies of 2014. He was the voice of Emmett in The Lego Movie and he was Peter (also known, at least to himself, as Star-Lord) in Guardians of the Galaxy. But before that he was often seen playing comic relief best friend type roles in movies like “Delivery Man” and “The Five-Year Engagement.”

Bryce Dallas Howard played a mean, racist socialite in The Help and she played Victoria in the “Twilight” series. And she wants you to know she is not Jessica Chastain.

Vincent D’Onofrio is familiar to fans of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” But he has had a remarkably varied career, in films from Adventures in Babysitting to The Judge, and Full Metal Jacket.

Judy Greer plays the mother of the two boys and the sister of the woman who runs the park. She has been in pretty much everything, playing best friends in rom-coms and on television shows like “Arrested Development” and “Archer.” She even wrote a book about it: I Don’t Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star

Irfan Kahn plays the billionaire whose company owns Jurassic World. He appeared in “The Life of Pi” as the title character and in “Slumdog Millionaire” as the game show host. His lovely film “The Lunchbox” is well worth seeking out.