- "Charred on the outside, juicy on the inside."
- —Dennis, on barbecuing chicken(src)
Dennis is an African-American father and the head of a mixed family from Oakland, California.
Dennis was portrayed by American actor André Holland in the 2019 short film Battle at Big Rock.
Biography[]
Background[]
Dennis is from Oakland, California. An African-American, he was once in a relationship with an unknown African-American woman with whom he had a daughter named Kadasha. Under unknown circumstances, he became a single father and raised Kadasha on his own.
Sometime before 2017, Dennis would meet Mariana, a Hispanic-American woman also from Oakland. The two would form a relationship and in 2017 would marry and bring together their families as one. Dennis would become the step-father of Mateo, Mariana's child from a previous relationship around the same age as Kadasha. Sometime in either 2018 or 2019, Mariana would give birth to a unnamed son fathered by Dennis.
Battle at Big Rock[]
Dennis and his family embarked on a camping trip to Big Rock National Park in Northern California. They would stay at a camp ground with other campers in trailers. Dennis had just finished grilling chicken and setting up dinner for his family when a female Nasutoceratops and her baby entered the campground. Initially the animals posed no threat and the family watched from inside their trailer while Kadasha explained what species they were.
Danger arrived immediately afterwards in the form of an adult Allosaurus. The carnivore proceeded to attack the two herbivores. As the two adult animals fought, the door to the trailer opened. Dennis slowly moved to close it as the Allosaurus injured the Nasutoceratops. But then the male arrived to save its family. This is when Dennis' younger son began to cry attracting the Allosaurus to attack the trailer and knock it on its side.
Dennis and Mariana awoke from unconciousness not long afterwards and pulled their baby out of his booster seat just in time to save him from the jaws of the Allosaurus. Dennis also pulled Mateo away to safety as the Allosaurus destroyed the trailer in its pursuit and even fought it off with a metal bar. He and Mariana stood defiantly in the face of the roaring dinosaur ready to give their lives to protect their family when Kadasha shot the Allosaur's eye with a crossbow. The injured animal took off and Dennis embraced his family in the ruins of the trailer.
A news report would later recount the events Dennis and his family went through. This first major encounter between dinosaurs and man would come to be known as the "Battle at Big Rock".
Behind the scenes[]
African-American actor André Holland portrays Dennis in the short film. Holland, alongside Natalie Martinez, was the only person chosen for the role rather than holding an open casting call. Series director and writer Colin Trevorrow was a fan of Holland's prior to casting him in his short film.
As stated by Trevorrow, Dennis and his family being mixed (an African-American father and daughter, a Hispanic-American mother and son, and their mixed baby) was intentional. Trevorrow, a native of Oakland himself, wanted this family to be the main focus as it better represents most families nowadays (by 2019) in the United States and around the world. This is also in contrast to the previous films of the Jurassic Park series in which divorced families (namely children or relationships) were the major focus (as opposed to most media's general depiction of complete nuclear families).
Trivia[]
- Dennis is the first head lead of any Jurassic Park media who is African-American. Every film prior's main starring lead has been Caucasian. However, he is not the first African-American or black main character (part of the main / leading cast) of the series.
- Dennis has some parallels with other major Jurassic Park characters who appeared in prior films in the series:
- Paul Kirby: Dennis, like Paul, is a father who would give his life to protect his children (in both instances shown in an encounter with a carnivorous theropod dinosaur which they survive). Also like Paul, Dennis is an ordinary civilian who has a child that likes / is knowledgeable regarding dinosaurs.
- Ian Malcolm: Similar to Paul Kirby, Dennis and Malcolm share the protectiveness of their kids. The two both also have an African-American daughter (Ian, Kelly, Dennis, Kadasha). Both their respective daughters also managed to fight off a carnivorous dinosaur. Also specific to Malcolm, Dennis is a father who has remarried.
- Coincidentally, Dennis shares his given name with Dennis Nedry, one of the major characters from the original Jurassic Park.
