Jurassic Park without Ian Malcolm? Unthinkable. Well, Steven Spielberg’s 1993 sci-fi blockbuster may well have been made without him.

Jeff Goldblum, who played Malcolm, says he had to fight to keep his character, a mathematician specialising in “chaos theory.

The actor, who will be seen in Jurassic World 2, which releases in June, said Spielberg almost wrote out the character entirely.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Goldblum said he “felt moved to advocate for my inclusion” after Spielberg told him he may no longer be needed. He said Spielberg insisted, “The people want that character melded into the Sam Neill character — I don’t think Sam Neill was doing it yet, but the Alan Grant character — and I said no no no, I think keep that character but, um... I don’t know what I said, but anyway, it turns out that I got to be in it and that’s the way it goes.”