Child star “Jurassic Park” 1993: Some people turn sideways, others are still struggling to find a place

After nearly thirty years, fans still haven’t stopped loving the world of the dinosaur park, but the kids on that year’s adventure have all changed a lot.

June 1993, super product Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg made the whole movie world shaken. For the first time on the big screen, a whole new world is opened. On the beautiful remote island of Isla Nubar, creatures that went extinct sixty-six million years ago have been revived under the power of science.

Contributing to the resounding success of the film, the two actors playing Lex Murphy and Tim Murphy – the grandson of the dinosaur park creator, are always considered by fans as “scene stealers”. Because even though they are not the main characters, these two child actors still stand out and make every scene more vivid.

Murphy sisters on a dinosaur escape – Jurassic Park 1993.

Let’s take a look back at the careers of these two child actors after three decades.

Lex Murphy – Ariana Richards: From potential child actress to talented artist

Jurassic Park’s little Lex Murphy and current actress Ariana Richards

After his role as Lex Murphy in 1993, Richards went on to act in various films, both television and film, both in lead and supporting roles, but none of them resonated. She quickly found a passion for painting and proved herself in this field. Her paintings are mainly landscapes and people in an impressionist painting style.

Richards has enjoyed great success as a professional painter, winning numerous awards in oil painting competitions and having his work featured in art magazines. She is currently a member of many art associations in the US and still regularly updates her paintings on her personal instagram with more than 32k followers.

The painting Lady of the Dahlias helped Ariana Richards win the first prize of the National Professional Oil Painting Competition in 2005, organized by American Artist magazine.

Interview with newspaper Interview in 2011, Richards expressed: “I have a great passion for visual arts and oil painting. But if at some point, a suitable role comes along, I’m sure I’ll gladly accept it.”

Tim Murphy – Joseph Mazzello: Three Decades in Hollywood

Joseph Mazzello as Tim Murphy (Jurassic Park – 1993) and John Deacon (Bohemian Rhapsody – 2018)

Mazzello started acting at the age of 5 and was named in 5 different movies before taking on the role of Tim Murphy – the boy who fell in love with dinosaurs. Jurassic Park. Since then, he has always been diligently pursuing a career in Hollywood, as an actor, screenwriter, and director.

Mazzello had the opportunity to act with many veteran actors like Anthony Hopkins in Shadowlandwith Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon in The River Wild. Outside Jurassic Parkhe also appeared in other hit movies like The Social Network, Bohemian Rhapsody.

But the name Joseph Mazzello has not really received the attention as expected. With nearly forty roles in hand, Tim Murphy is still Mazzello’s most widely known and remembered character.

Both Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello are still very proud when it comes to talking about Jurassic Park. Actor Mazzello shared with the Jurassic Outpost fan community in 2020 that:

“If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed in my life, it’s that my peers often tell me they’ve been to Jurassic Park four, five, six, seven times; and how familiar they are to me. I feel so warm and happy, knowing I can be part of something special in everyone’s life.”