Jurassic World director reveals why lesbian scene was cut
Daniella Pineda as Dr. Zia Rodriguez in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Universal Studios)
The director of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has said that a lesbian scene did not make the final cut because it was too long.
In an interview with Yahoo Movies UK, director JA Bayona also said that a clip from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which revealed the sexuality of paleo-veterinarian Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda), was cut out because it disrupted the flow of the movie.
“The whole thing came as a surprise to us. We always thought of Zia as lesbian,” he told the entertainment website.
“And then the scene where she was actually talking about it…it was a very long scene and it broke the pace of the whole movie so we decided to cut it.”
Bayona said that the lesbian scene would have made the film too long. (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Jurassic World’s lesbian scene was early in movie
Pineda had previously said that producers felt the scene showing her character’s sexuality wasn’t “relevant to the story, but it was a little glimmer into who she is.”
She told Yahoo: “Originally the cut was two hours and 40 minutes, and they were like, ‘This is too long.’”
The scene would have happened quite early on in the film, the actor revealed in the interview.
Daniella Pineda as Dr. Zia Rodriguez in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Universal Studios)
“I don’t date men”
She explained that the scene showed her and protagonist Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) driving in a military vehicle together, alongside a bunch of mercenaries, on a rescue mission to Jurassic World.
In the clip, Pineda said that her and Pratt’s character then engage in a conversation about their personal lives.
She revealed: “I look at Chris and I’m like: ‘Yeah, square jaw, good bone structure, tall, muscles. I don’t date men, but if I did, it would be you. It would gross me out, but I’d do it.’”
Pineda joked about how she was “looking at Chris Pratt, the hottest guy in the world, and I’m like, ‘It would gross me out, but I guess I would do it!’ It was also cool because it was a little insight into my character. But they cut it.”
A number of films have previously been accused of erasing queer women, after scenes showing various characters’ sexualities were cut out or excluded.
In February, fans accused the Marvel Cinematic Universe of lesbian erasure after it did not show a relationship between Okoye and Ayo, two of the titular character’s bodyguards, as Ayo and fellow female warrior Aneka do in the comics.
A Marvel spokesperson went as far as issuing a statement to confirm that Okoye and Ayo’s relationship is “not a romantic one.”
In October 2017, queer action movie fans were again outraged by MCU’s Thor: Ragnarok, which cut out a scene explicitly showing the character Valkyrie’s bisexuality.
