Wayne Knight’s Role in ‘Jurassic Park’ Nearly Caused a ‘Seinfeld’ Continuity Problem

Jurassic Park, a story about an ill-considered plan to revive something that should have just stayed dead years ago, just keeps getting sequels. Even after 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion sold itself as a finale of sorts, we’re getting yet another entry in the franchise this year: Jurassic World Rebirth. This one stars Scarlett Johansson as a doctor trying to extract dino DNA from an island full of highly dangerous reptiles, apparently for medical purposes that aren’t fully made clear in the trailer. 

But the Black Widow star isn’t the first to attempt to extract DNA from a dinosaur-filled island. Back in the original 1993 film it was the villain, Dennis Nedry, who tried to smuggle a shaving can full of dino-embryos out of Jurassic Park. Of course, he wasn’t doing it for the betterment of humanity, he was only in it for the money.

In retrospect, it’s amazing that actor Wayne Knight appeared in both Jurassic Park and that other zeitgeist-dominating ‘90s pop-culture juggernaut: Seinfeld. Playing both Newman and Nedry in 1993 no doubt made Knight one of the most recognizable character actors in the world, and presumably ruined his private detective business for good. But making both projects at the same time wasn’t without its challenges, mostly due to the grisly circumstances of Nedry’s death.

After stealing the embryos and shutting off most of Jurassic Park’s power, Nedry gets lost during his escape, driving his Jeep into a patch of mud. At this point, he encounters a loose Dilophosaurus that spits sticky black venom all over his face before feasting on his innards. Was it scientifically accurate? Ah, who cares…

That blinding black venom proved to be a significant problem on the Seinfeld set. Knight returned to work on the sitcom while shooting Jurassic Park, and discovered that the prop ooze had stained his skin. “It kind of dyed my face purple,” Knight told ABC News. Instead of ordering a last-minute rewrite to explain why Newman had been covered in toxic dinosaur goo, the Seinfeld crew attempted to cover up the discoloration. “So there was a makeup problem going back to TV, we had to, like, cover the spot,” Knight recalled.

He eventually told the Jurassic Park folks that the Dilophosaurus spit had blemished his skin, and they simply responded: “Yeah, it’ll do that.”

While guesting on his Seinfeld co-star Jason Alexander’s podcast, Knight went into more details about just how unpleasant the Jurassic Park scene was to film. It involved being shot by an “air rifle filled with dyed black KY Jelly,” which was wielded by someone who Knight claims was looking at him “disdainfully.” Before the first take, the crew member told him: “Don’t blink or I’ll have to do it again.”

Incidentally, the same guy now lives across the street from the actor. “And he has a better house than I do,” Knight complained. Well, he is the expert on annoying neighbors.