Wayne Elliot Knight (born August 7, 1955) is an American actor, voice artist and comedian who played Nedry in the 1993 film Jurassic Park. Other notable films Knight has appeared in include Dirty Dancing (1987), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), JFK (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), Hercules (1997) and Toy Story 2 (1999). Aside from his work in film, Knight has had an extensive career in television and theater. He is perhaps best-known for his recurring role as Newman in the sitcom series Seinfeld (1991-1998).
For his role in Jurassic Park, Knight was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
Trivia
- Steven Spielberg chose Wayne Knight to play Dennis Nedry after seeing his role in Basic Instinct (1992). Knight has joked in an interview that Spielberg had seen the film "and then imagined if I were sweating in the same fashion, but looking at a dinosaur instead of a Sharon Stone."
- Although Wayne Knight plays a pivotal role in the film, he has never been interviewed in background material.
- Wayne Knight was interested in appearing in Jurassic World. He told toofab's Brian Particelli and a small group of journalists 2013's Comic-Con in San Diego that Nedry could have survived the Dilophosaurus attack. "It was a very big meal and a very small dinosaur. It was different from the book. In the book he crushes his head and all this kinda stuff. I'm thinking, why not play a one-armed guy with an eye patch? I could come back!"[1]
References
| Jurassic Park Actors |
|---|
| Sam Neill • Laura Dern • Jeff Goldblum • Richard Attenborough • Bob Peck • Martin Ferrero • Joseph Mazzello • Ariana Richards • Samuel L. Jackson • B.D. Wong • Wayne Knight • Gerald R. Molen • Miguel Sandoval • Cameron Thor • Christopher John Fields • Jophery C. Brown • Whit Hertford • Dean Cundey • Tom Mishler • Greg Burson • Adrian Escobar • Richard Kiley • Brad M. Bucklin |
