Steven Spielberg has a major contribution to the entertainment world all thanks to his impeccable projects that led him to become a pioneer of modern blockbusters. He has given numerous box-office hits to the world which include his 1975 thriller film, Jaws which starred Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw among other talented stars.
Robert Shaw Was Not The First Choice for Steven Spielberg’s Jaws
He was initially looking forward to casting a high-profile actor which is why his first choice was Oscar-winning actor, Lee Marvin.
“I did go for a big star initially because my first choice for Quint was Lee Marvin, but he wasn’t interested. What I heard was that he wanted to go fishing for real! He took his fishing very seriously and didn’t want to do it from a “movie” boat.”
His second preference turned out to be The Godfather actor, Sterling Hayden, who turned down the offer. He admitted being a “big fan of his” especially “from the two films he had done with Stanley Kubrick, The Killing [1956] and Dr. Strangelove [1964].”
While there were actors who were interested in the role, he recalled producers, Dick Zanuck and David Brown suggested James Bond actor.
“They had just worked with him in The Sting [1973], which they produced, and loved him. I’d just screened two films with Shaw to refresh my memory, including A Man for All Seasons [1966], in which he was spectacular. Based on that, and of course on From Russia with Love [1963]—with that great fight on a train where he played the nemesis to 007—I said, ‘Wow . . . I wish I had thought of him! It’s a great idea!'”
Though he was nothing but great words for him, Spielberg and producers were highly concerned about his one habit that nearly jeopardized the film production schedule.
Robert Shaw’s Drinking Habits Was a Major Risk
The director was content with the fact that Shaw was ready to work in the film and also gave him assurance about being sober for two months.
“He fortunately said yes. I’ll never forget that one of the first things Shaw said to me was, ‘I haven’t had a drink in two months!'”
Despite this fact, producers were skeptical about his commitment as he shared,
“And Dick was always warning me when he sensed that Robert Shaw had been drinking, fearing it would delay filming—but it didn’t really matter because the shark wasn’t working anyway.”
At one point, the actor and Zanuck almost got into a fistfight which would have cost the production as he shared,
“Incidentally, during production, Dick Zanuck and Robert Shaw would play ping-pong together, and one day, when Dick won, Shaw challenged him to a fistfight which was quickly defused by others. If Shaw had gotten a black eye, that would definitely have put us further behind schedule!”
Eventually, things worked out with the film grossing over $476 million worldwide on a production budget of $9 million which was an incredible milestone for any project at the time.
Jaws is available on Prime Video.
Source: Vanity Fair
