BMDQ&A: Jake Johnson On JURASSIC WORLD And DIGGING FOR FIRE

Upon Jurassic World's release, I got a flood of both friends and people I don't even really know telling me that I was essentially an IRL Lowery - the Jurassic Park-obsessed, dinosaur-loving, poor taste t-shirt-wearing, mustachioed hipster nerd played by Jake Johnson. 

I found it hard to argue these claims considering 1. Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies of all time 2. I love dinosaurs and have a pretty extensive collection of dinosaur toys 3. I have spent way more than I'd like to admit finding vintage pop culture shirts on eBay and 4. I actually already owned the exact pearl snap shirt the character wears in the film.

So when the opportunity popped up to interview Johnson for his new film Digging For Fire*, I came up with the silly idea to do it dressed as Lowery. I've interviewed him a few times over the years and each time it's been something fun and weird, going all the way back to his first film -  2009's Paper Heart - in which we went bowling for the interview. So I felt like I had a trend to keep going. 

Luckily, Johnson didn't find it to be in as poor taste as Claire found his t-shirt. We ended up chatting about Jurassic World for ten minutes, which was cool considering it's been months removed from the press tour grind for the film, so there was stuff he hadn't discussed (like the fake backstory he and director Colin Trevorrow came up with), and Johnson didn't really know that his character has become a fan favorite over the past couple of months. For example: someone is selling custom Lowery Funko Pop figures on Etsy, you can now buy a reproduction of his vintage Jurassic Park ringer, and that now-rare pearl snap he wears? One just sold for $300 on eBay. I think the irony there is obvious. 

Digging for Fire is out today on iTunes, VOD and in select theaters - including two showings tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin with Johnson in attendance for Q&As. 

*Cowritten by Johnson and director/Drinking Buddies collaborator Joe Swanberg, based on a true story where Johnson thought he found the remains of a dead body in a house he rented. 

Jurassic World:

Digging for Fire: