Dichen Lachman talks about her interest in a Jurassic spin-off focused on her character Soyona Santos.
Jurrasic World: Dominion roared into theaters worldwide, earlier this year, with full preparation to be one of the biggest titles of the summer. This anticipation was, however, short-lived as the first reviews started to pour out and the film was not well received by critics, managing only a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even still, the great promise of dinosaurs and the charisma and nostalgia of the cast involved were enough to bring audiences to theaters. The film currently stands at $984 Million worldwide, edging ever closer towards the big $1 Billion club.
One of the standouts from the film was Animal Kingdom’s Dichen Lachman. We recently had the amazing opportunity to have a chat with Dichen on her journey through her years in Hollywood, from Animal Kingdom to Marvel, to DC, and now into the Jurassic World.
Dichen Lachman on Soyona and a Possible Jurassic World: Dominion Spin-Off
Dichen Lachman spoke about how she wanted to give her character in Jurassic World Dominion, the villainous black market Dinosaur dealer Soyona Santos, more depth.
I really wanted to ground her cause obviously it’s a world with dinosaurs and it’s a fantastical world, but I wanted to find a way, like, how did she get to do what she’s doing?
Dichen Lachman, Illuminerdi Interview
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She explained how she made a full backstory for Soyona in her mind, making the character “from Siberia and that her father was Russian and got extraordinary wealth through the aluminum wars in Siberia and her mother smuggled fossils. Because there are actually a lot of fossils in Mongolia. And I think there are the fighting dinosaurs, which are two Velociraptors that were also discovered in Mongolia. So I was like, I think the whole dinosaur thing came from her mother and her fossil smuggling days.” Her comments here really give us great insight into how she was able to give the character some nuance, giving her black market dinosaur dealings a more personal connection.
What this comment also gives us is an epic premise for a TV series or film focused on the character, possibly even her origins. Dichen Lachman joked about the spin-off possibility.
I wrote this very elaborate backstory, which I joked could be like a movie in and of itself.
Dichen Lachman, Illuminerdi Interview
Clearly, showing interest in a project which may be focused on her character. Lachman was also responsible for expanding the character in other ways, including the technology she uses, stating that the character originally only had a remote and a phone on her so she came up with an amazing new idea. This new idea not only was cooler, but also made a lot more sense considering the character.
I think she has, she has something cooler than that. And I was thinking about gadgets. And so before I met Colin, I did all these sketches of like, maybe it’s a necklace, maybe it’s a bracelet. I designed this bracelet where the remote slides out and I pitched it to him when I first met him in London. And he said, let me think about it. I like it, but let me think about it. And then, extraordinarily, he loved it.
Dichen Lachman, Illuminerdi Interview
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When asked if she would be interested in a spin-off of the film into a series or film, she answered “I would love that!” Her passion for this character is clear so a full-length series exploring the character’s origin or her future endeavors would be perfect, especially with the backstory already created by Lachman, to prepare for the role. Having already been in the MCU, DC’s Arrowverse, and Animal Kingdom, she has the wealth of experience and heaps of passion to truly make something special out of this idea. This could also finally give the Jurrasic franchise a breath of fresh air with a deeper exploration project, something never seen before in the franchise.
You can check out the full interview below.
Full Dichen Lachman Exclusive Interview
Jurassic World Dominion is available now on home entertainment 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital with the extended edition. What did you think of Jurassic World: Dominion? Do you want a Jurassic spin-off focused on DIchen Lachman Soyona Santos? Are there any other characters you would want to see more of? Let us know what you think and share your thoughts with us on Twitter.
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