Dr. Alan Grant is a fictional character in the Jurassic Park franchise. He is a paleontologist and is introduced in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park, which began the franchise. Crichton based Grant on the paleontologist Jack Horner. Director Steven Spielberg helmed the 1993 film adaptation, and several actors were considered for the role of Grant. It ultimately went to Sam Neill, becoming one of his most popular roles. Spielberg gave the character a dislike of children, and put him in a relationship with Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleobotanist who is Grant's student in the novel. Sattler, portrayed by Laura Dern, wants to start a family with Grant, who is resistant to the idea. Neill reprised the character in 2001's Jurassic Park III, which also saw a cameo by Dern. In the film, Sattler has married someone else and started a family, although she and Grant remain friends. Director Joe Johnston chose to break-up Grant and Sattler, believing that Dern looked too young to be in such a relationship; Neill is 20 years older than her. Neill was dissatisfied with his performance in the first film, which factored into his return for Jurassic Park III, marking the first time he reprised one of his roles. Neill and Dern would return again for major roles in Jurassic World Dominion, released in 2022. In the film, Sattler has divorced her husband; she and Grant eventually rekindle their romantic relationship. Colin Trevorrow, the film's director and co-writer, was in agreement with Neill and Dern on reuniting their characters romantically. Neill and Dern also reprised their roles for the video games Jurassic World Evolution and Jurassic World Evolution 2, lending their voices to downloadable content packs released in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Fictional background Dr. Alan Grant is a paleontologist who is dedicated to his research, which includes a focus on velociraptors. He believes that dinosaurs are closely related to birds, and also theorizes that the vision of a Tyrannosaurus is based on movement. Grant has written several books on dinosaurs, as referenced in the first novel. He has also written at least two in the film series. In Jurassic Park III, Eric Kirby opines that he liked Grant's first book better, as Grant liked dinosaurs when he wrote it, compared to the second written after his time at Jurassic Park. Grant has a dislike of computers, and is portrayed in the film series