Colin Tevorrow, director of Jurassic World 3, and 12-year-old Theo Chapman pose for a photograph at a Merritt pub.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Lynda Etchart

12-year-old Theo Chapman has seen all of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. When he found out the cast and crew would be in his hometown of Merritt to film, he knew he had to meet them.

“I was really excited, and I wanted to go see them,” Chapman says.

His mom, Lynda Etchart, came up with the idea that would lead Chapman to be invited to a private movie crew function at a local pub.

“We were sitting around here... I said, ‘With Jurassic World filming here wouldn’t it be fun to borrow that costume and run around town?’ He just jumped on board right away and said, ‘I’m in mom, let’s do it,’” Etchart says.

Over the weekend, he borrowed a dinosaur costume from his cousin and walked the streets of Merritt as a prehistoric creature. When he went out again on March 2, he scored an opportunity to meet the crew.

“I was just trying to make people laugh and have a good time,” Chapman says. “I was walking around Merritt and people were posting pictures of me, pulling over and having a good time. One of my mom’s really good friends owns the Grand, and invited me there at a time when Jurassic World had it reserved so I could see them all.”

Etchart’s friend Dana Egan owns the Grand Pub and Grill in Merritt and encouraged the mother-son duo to swing by.

“My girlfriend owns the pub and she thought it would be kind of cool if we just walked around the building and knocked on the windows,” Etchart says. “Everybody started laughing and he came in, he was giving out little gifts like jawbreaker dinosaur eggs. Everyone was super friendly and embraced the whole thing, it was really cool.”

Chapman met the director, crew members, CGI technicians and some of the actors, although he mentions he didn’t see star Chris Pratt at the event. He says everyone was welcoming and even got in on the fun with a matching costume.

“One of the crew members put on their costume and fought me,” Chapman says.

Chapman changed out of his costume and got the chance to mingle with the crew as himself. He says the experience has left him starstruck, and he even scored his own dinosaur costume from the crew member who played along.

“When she left there left last night, and she left her costume with a little note for him,” Etchart says.

Chapman told all of his schoolmates about the experience, and both he and his mother agree it’s something they’ll always remember.

— This story was originally published at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

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