'Jurassic Park' stars Laura Dern and Sam Neill said they 'only now' recognize the 20-year age gap between their characters

• Laura Dern and Sam Neill opened up about their age difference in "Jurassic Park."
• Dern was 23 when she played Dr. Ellie Sattler and Neill was in his 40s when he played Dr. Alan Grant.

"Jurassic Park" stars Laura Dern and Sam Neill opened up about the age gap between them, saying they "only now" recognize how big the 20-year difference between their romantically linked characters really was.

In an interview with Jonathan Dean of The Sunday Times, the duo said they didn't realize that Neill was two decades older than Dern while filming the 1993 classic. Dern was 23 when she first played Dr. Ellie Sattler and Neill was about 44 when he first starred as Dr. Alan Grant.

"I am 20 years older than Laura!" Neill said, adding, "Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady!"

Neill said it didn't occur to him how much older he was than Dern until he read a magazine article titled, "Old Geezers and Gals." He said he couldn't believe he was on the list among actors like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, who also acted with younger actresses in movies like "Six Days, Seven Nights" and "Entrapment."

Dern also said it felt "completely appropriate" to fall in love with Neill in the movie.

"And it was only now, when we returned in a moment of cultural awareness about the patriarchy, that I was, like, 'Wow! We're not the same age?'" Dern said.

Still, the actress noted the strength and heroism of her character, saying many women working in technology and science "point to a similarity between Ellie's heroism and women in their field."

Several of the original "Jurassic Park" cast members, including Dern, Neill, and Jeff Goldblum, will reprise their original roles in the upcoming "Jurassic World Dominion" film.

The movie, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, premieres in theatres on June 10.