- - The Jurassic Park star who swapped dinosaurs for paint palettes

Ricardo RamirezNovember 1, 2025 at 5:56 AM

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Whatever happened to Ariana Richards?

As the Daily Mail reported in 2015, Ariana Richards recalled her “Jurassic Park” experience by saying, “Truly, the entire experience of making ‘Jurassic Park’ was one big adventure from beginning to end.” This article examines how the actress who terrified audiences as Lex Murphy transformed herself into an accomplished impressionist painter, trading Hollywood sets for art studios across three continents.

The role that defined a generation

Richards became internationally recognized at thirteen for portraying Lex Murphy, the resourceful granddaughter who saves the day in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park.” Her performance captured something essential about childhood resilience. The famous kitchen scene with the velociraptors remains one of cinema’s most nerve-wracking sequences, largely because Richards sold every moment of terror. She briefly reprised the role in 1997’s “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and continued working through the decade in television movies and smaller films. Yet even as her acting career progressed, another passion had been quietly developing since childhood, one that would eventually consume her professional life entirely.

From soundstages to canvas studios

Richards didn’t simply dabble in painting between auditions. She pursued formal training with serious intensity, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art and Drama from Skidmore College in 2001 with distinction. She continued studying at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, working with instructors who also taught Disney animators. Her dedication paid off when she won first place in the National Professional Oil Painting Competition in October 2005 for her work “Lady of the Dahlias.” Today, she works as a full-time professional artist, creating landscapes and portraits that blend classical techniques with impressionist sensibilities. She divides her time between studio locations in the United States, South America, and Western Europe.

The pull toward privacy and paint

Fame arrived abruptly for Richards after “Jurassic Park” premiered, and she struggled with the sudden loss of anonymity. Art offered something Hollywood couldn’t: control, solitude, and the ability to work without constant scrutiny. Her artistic lineage helped pull her in this direction. Richards descends from Carlo Crivelli, a Renaissance painter and contemporary of Botticelli, and her grandmother mentored her in color theory starting at age ten. During filming, she painted watercolors between takes, even presenting Spielberg with a self-portrait that he framed for his home. The transition felt natural rather than forced, an organic evolution toward something that had always been part of her identity.

Conclusion

Richards maintains she hasn’t entirely abandoned acting, telling interviewers that performing remains in her blood and that she’d jump at the right opportunity, particularly if Spielberg called. She’s attended premieres of subsequent Jurassic films and even visited the Universal Studios theme park ride incognito. Yet her primary identity has shifted completely. At 45, married with a daughter, she describes herself as a painter first, with acting as a cherished part of her past. Her story offers a reminder that childhood fame doesn’t have to define an entire life, and that sometimes the most fulfilling path involves returning to passions that existed long before the cameras started rolling.

Related:

Whatever happened to the kid from The Shining?

Whatever happened to the little girl from Matilda?

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”