Jurassic Park is perfect, pure cinema. I hope we made a film worthy of it

"MORE than any other job I've ever done, I've had to rely on my imagination for this film," reflects American actor Mahershala Ali.

- BY LYNN RUSK

"It was the loneliest ensemble filming I've ever experienced, as we had to respond to something that is outside of us."

The 51-year-old, two-time Academy Award winner stars as Duncan Kincaid, a mercenary and covert operations team leader, in Jurassic World Rebirth, the latest instalment in the long-running franchise.

Mahershala is referring to the unique demands of performing alongside CGI dinosaurs - extinct creatures that would only come to life in post-production to create a fantastical experience for audiences.

Directed by British filmmaker Gareth Edwards, best known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Creator, Jurassic World Rebirth marks the seventh film in the series.

The story follows a recovery team, led by Mahershala, Scarlett Johansson, and Jonathan Bailey, as they travel to Ile Saint-Hubert, an equatorial island that once housed the original Jurassic Park's research facility.

Their mission is to retrieve genetic material from the three most colossal prehistoric creatures, across land, sea, and air, in an effort to unlock a groundbreaking cure for heart disease and other life-threatening conditions.

Mahershala, who won Oscars for Moonlight and Green Book, emphasised the discipline required on a set where actors weren't reacting to each other, but to invisible, imagined threats.

"I'm not responding to Rupert or Johnny or Scarlett," he said. "We're responding to this thing that is outside of us. You're having to imagine the thing that you're scared about every day, and your only reference point is a tennis ball on a stick.

"I think that's why it's very difficult to do good work in these types of films - it requires you to be so focused and so disciplined."