50 Fun Facts About Jeff Goldblum

Which branch of mathematics does Ian Malcolm, Jeff Goldblum's black-clad skeptic in Jurassic Park, specialize in?

Chaos theory filled Malcolm's dialogue with math, and one draft of the script cut him entirely until Goldblum's audition convinced Steven Spielberg to bring him back.

In Independence Day, what does Jeff Goldblum's David Levinson upload to the alien mothership to disable its shields?

A computer virus drops the shields long enough for a nuclear missile to destroy the mothership. David builds it with Area 51 researchers after decoding the invaders' countdown.

Which ruler of the planet Sakaar does Jeff Goldblum play in Thor: Ragnarok, pitting Thor against the Hulk?

The Grandmaster has blue skin in the comics but not in the film, partly because Goldblum had already played a blue alien in Earth Girls Are Easy.

Beside which London landmark did a 25-foot statue of Jeff Goldblum appear to mark Jurassic Park's 25th anniversary?

Tower Bridge was the backdrop for the temporary statue, which went up in July 2018 and measured a foot for every year since the film's release.

Which character does Jeff Goldblum play in the 2024 film Wicked, a figure who invites Elphaba to the Emerald City?

The Wizard turns out to be an ordinary man who cannot read the spellbook himself, which is why he needs Elphaba. Goldblum returned to the part in Wicked: For Good.

For which technology company was Jeff Goldblum the voice of most US commercials for several years in the 1990s?

Apple had Goldblum narrate its ads for the iMac and the iBook, and he has also voiced commercials for Toyota.

Which actress, Jeff Goldblum's co-star in The Fly and Earth Girls Are Easy, was married to him from 1987 to 1991?

Geena Davis met Goldblum on the set of the horror comedy Transylvania 6-5000, and a producer of The Fly opposed casting her because the two were already a couple.

Which instrument does Jeff Goldblum play on his jazz albums, a passion he credits to his late brother Rick?

Piano is what Goldblum plays at the head of his own jazz orchestra, which did not release a debut album until 2018, more than four decades into his acting career.

In which vigilante thriller did Jeff Goldblum make his film debut, playing a thug who attacks the hero's family?

Death Wish starred Charles Bronson as the architect Paul Kersey, and the home invasion Goldblum's thug takes part in is the crime that turns Kersey into a vigilante.

Which comic actor also auditioned to play Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park before the role went to Jeff Goldblum?

Jim Carrey was terrific in his audition, the casting director recalled, but the team quickly fell for the idea of Goldblum. The two had already shared the screen in Earth Girls Are Easy.

Which actress did Jeff Goldblum begin dating while they made a 1993 blockbuster, a romance that ended in 1997?

Laura Dern played Ellie Sattler, the scientist Ian Malcolm flirts with in Jurassic Park, and the pair shared the screen again almost three decades later in Jurassic World Dominion.

Which city does a Tyrannosaurus rampage through at the climax of Jeff Goldblum's sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park?

San Diego got its dinosaur only two months before filming began, when Steven Spielberg rewrote the ending because he wanted to see one attack the mainland.

Which director cast Jeff Goldblum in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Asteroid City?

Wes Anderson first cast Goldblum as Alistair Hennessey, the more successful rival oceanographer in The Life Aquatic, and has brought him back several times since.

Which Greek god did Jeff Goldblum play in the Netflix series Kaos, taking over the role from Hugh Grant?

Zeus is all-powerful yet insecure in Kaos, where he keeps Prometheus shackled to a cliff as punishment for interfering with his rule. Grant had to withdraw because of a scheduling clash.

Which streaming service had The World According to Jeff Goldblum among its shows on the day it launched?

Disney+ launched with the National Geographic series, for which Goldblum deliberately researched as little as possible before exploring sneakers, ice cream and tattoos.

In The Big Chill, Jeff Goldblum plays Michael Gold, a University of Michigan graduate who writes for which magazine?

People employs Michael, who spends the reunion weekend flirting and hunting for investors in a New York nightclub he wants to open.

In which 1985 western did Jeff Goldblum play the gambler Slick, appearing alongside his first wife Patricia Gaul?

Silverado was directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who had already cast Goldblum in The Big Chill. His gambler betrays the heroes and ends up killed with his own knife.

Which British actress plays Kate, the nurse Jeff Goldblum's struggling actor falls for in the comedy The Tall Guy?

Emma Thompson's Kate meets Dexter when hay fever sends him to a doctor. He later lands the lead in a musical version of The Elephant Man, in the first film written by Richard Curtis.

Which actor did Jeff Goldblum replace on Law & Order: Criminal Intent when he joined as Detective Zack Nichols?

Chris Noth left after the seventh season, and Goldblum's Nichols lasted two seasons before the actor quit over doubts about the show's future.

Emilie Livingston, who married Jeff Goldblum in 2014, competed for Canada at the Olympics in which sport?

Rhythmic gymnastics took Livingston to Russia to train at about eleven, and she won the all-around title at the 1999 Pan American Games before becoming a dancer and contortionist.

Jeff Goldblum was born in West Homestead, a small borough on the Monongahela River just outside which American city?

Pittsburgh is where Goldblum's father became a hospital's chief of medicine. Goldblum left for New York at 17, and in 2006 played himself in a film named after the city.

Which novelist created Ian Malcolm, then made him the lead of a sequel after fans embraced Jeff Goldblum's performance?

Michael Crichton had Malcolm declared dead at the end of the first novel, then revealed in The Lost World that the report had been premature.

Which director made the 1986 horror film The Fly and proposed Jeff Goldblum for its lead, the scientist Seth Brundle?

David Cronenberg rejected the producer's pick, Pierce Brosnan, and modeled Brundle's telepods on the engine cylinder of his own Ducati motorcycle.

The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum as a scientist who merges with an insect, won an Academy Award in which category?

Best Makeup went to Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis, who designed the final creature first and then worked backwards through each stage of the scientist's decay.

Which animal is turned inside-out in a failed teleportation test early in The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum?

A baboon is the first victim of the telepods, which can move objects but mangle living tissue. A second one comes through unharmed once the machine is reprogrammed.

Which actor plays the Marine pilot who flies into the mothership with Jeff Goldblum's character in Independence Day?

Will Smith had no bigger hit for more than 20 years: Independence Day stayed his highest-grossing film until the 2019 remake of Aladdin passed it.

Which star of the sitcom Taxi plays Julius Levinson, father of Jeff Goldblum's character, in Independence Day?

Judd Hirsch's Julius travels with his son to the White House, and it is Julius who inspires the plan that finally beats the invaders.

Which Star Trek actor plays psychiatrist David Kibner opposite Jeff Goldblum in 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers?

Leonard Nimoy was cast partly to break him out of typecasting, though the director admitted that Kibner and his pod double shared some of Spock's quirks.

Jeff Goldblum made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of a 1971 rock musical based on which Shakespeare comedy?

Two Gentlemen of Verona beat Grease to the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Stockard Channing made her Broadway debut in the same ensemble.

Which famous acting teacher trained Jeff Goldblum at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse after he moved there at 17?

Sanford Meisner coached Goldblum at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and Goldblum went on to teach acting himself at Playhouse West in North Hollywood.

Which record label signed Jeff Goldblum in 2018 and released his debut jazz album, The Capitol Studios Sessions?

Decca released the album that November, with guest vocals from Imelda May, Haley Reinhart and Sarah Silverman.

At which British music festival did Jeff Goldblum and his jazz band perform in the summer of 2019?

Glastonbury came between the band's first two albums, the second of which carried the title I Shouldn't Be Telling You This.

A guest role on which NBC sitcom earned Jeff Goldblum a Primetime Emmy nomination for comedy guest actor?

Will & Grace cast Goldblum as Scott Woolley in its seventh season. A second Emmy nomination followed in 2020, for hosting his own documentary series.

In which category did Little Surprises, directed by Jeff Goldblum, earn him an Academy Award nomination?

Live Action Short Film was the category for Little Surprises, which Goldblum improvised with actors from the company where he taught; its cast included Rod Steiger and Julie Harris.

On Sesame Street in 1990, Jeff Goldblum played Bob's long-lost brother, an explorer who parodied which film hero?

Indiana Jones became Minneapolis, who goes hunting for the golden cabbage of Snuffertiti, a treasure hidden in Snuffleupagus's cave.

Which television comedian did Jeff Goldblum play in a 1984 TV movie about the kidnapping of the comic's two daughters?

Ernie Kovacs fought to get his daughters back after his first wife took them, and his widow, Edie Adams, made a cameo appearance in the film.

In which Woody Allen comedy does a young Jeff Goldblum appear for a few seconds as a guest at a Hollywood party?

Annie Hall went on to win Best Picture, and Goldblum's entire part is one line spoken into a telephone, fretting that he has forgotten his mantra.

Which actress plays the jewel smuggler who pulls Jeff Goldblum's insomniac engineer into danger in Into the Night?

Michelle Pfeiffer's smuggler is on the run from several international foes, and director John Landis filled the thriller with cameos by friends such as Muppets creator Jim Henson.

Which pop singer starred opposite Jeff Goldblum in the 1988 comedy Vibes, after Dan Aykroyd turned the film down?

Cyndi Lauper was meant to star with Aykroyd, who met her and decided against the film. The studio stood by her, and Goldblum stepped in.

Which director cast Jeff Goldblum as the silent Tricycle Man in the 1975 ensemble film Nashville?

Robert Altman had already used Goldblum in California Split, and gave him no lines here: his Tricycle Man links the film's scenes by riding through them on a three-wheel motorcycle.

In The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Jeff Goldblum's cowboy-suited neurosurgeon goes by the name of which US state?

New Jersey wears the cowboy outfit because, the film's costumer explained, the character assumed it was the right look for meeting someone called Buckaroo.

Which biblical figure did Jeff Goldblum voice in the film The Prince of Egypt, opposite Sandra Bullock's Miriam?

Aaron is the brother of Moses, and in the film he first blames Moses for the slaves' heavier workload before helping to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

What does Ian Malcolm use to distract the Tyrannosaurus in Jurassic Park, a heroic change Jeff Goldblum suggested?

A flare replaced the original script, in which Malcolm simply ran away in fear. Goldblum argued on set that a brave act would play better.

Which actor played the hustler turned detective opposite Jeff Goldblum's accountant in TV's Tenspeed and Brown Shoe?

Ben Vereen's Tenspeed took up detective work to satisfy his parole, while Goldblum's Lionel Whitney longed to be a 1940s private eye in the Bogart mold.

Which director made both Independence Day films, with Jeff Goldblum playing David Levinson twenty years apart?

Roland Emmerich co-wrote the 1996 original with producer Dean Devlin, and it became the highest-grossing film of its year, ahead of Twister and Mission: Impossible.

Which comedian stars as the mysterious G opposite Jeff Goldblum's home shopping executive in the 1998 film Holy Man?

Eddie Murphy's G turns up as sales at the Good Buy Shopping Network slide under Goldblum's Ricky Hayman; the film itself earned back less than half of its budget.

In The Simpsons episode A Fish Called Selma, Jeff Goldblum voices MacArthur Parker, the agent of which actor?

Troy McClure lands a Planet of the Apes musical through Parker, and Goldblum had to rerecord his lines at a faster speed because the episode was running too long.

Which prize for science fiction, fantasy and horror named Jeff Goldblum Best Actor for his performance in The Fly?

The Saturn Award was as close as Goldblum came to a major acting prize for the role: Roger Ebert said he deserved an Oscar nomination, but none arrived.

Which director urged Jeff Goldblum to improvise on Thor: Ragnarok and also played the gladiator Korg in the film?

Taika Waititi wanted Goldblum to make the role his own, and chose not to hide the actor's personality behind the character's comic-book look.

Which actress sings on Jeff Goldblum's 2025 jazz album Still Blooming, alongside Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo?

Scarlett Johansson joined two of Goldblum's Wicked co-stars on the guest list, and had already shared a voice cast with him in Isle of Dogs.