Steven Spielberg Shares the "Interesting Story" of How Roy Scheider Was Cast in JAWS

When talking about his 1975 summer blockbuster classic Jaws, Steven Spielberg has been sharing stories regarding how his cast came together of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw. We’ve already shared the stories for Dreyfuss and Shaw, but now we get to talk about how Scheider landed the role of Chief Brody. During an interview with Vanity Fair, Spielberg said:

“How I cast Roy Scheider is an interesting story. I was going to a whole series of actors, most of them unknown. There was an actor I liked from Serpico [1973]—it was not Al Pacino—as well as another one I had seen in an off-Broadway play. But the studio, Zanuck, and Brown were pressuring me to get a name for this part. I was having trouble finding someone I liked.”

Then Spielberg met Schieder at a party and Schieder basically offered himself up for the role, which Spielberg was totally fine with! As Spielberg tells it:

“Then, I remember going to a party one night, and Roy Scheider, whom I loved from The French Connection, came and sat down next to me and said, ‘You look awfully depressed.’ I told him, ‘Oh no, I’m not depressed. I’m just having trouble casting my movie.’ He asked what the film was—I explained it was based on a novel called Jaws and told him the entire plot. At the end of it, Roy said, ‘Wow, that’s a great story! What about me?’ I looked at him and said, ‘Yeah, what about you? You’d make a great Chief Brody!’”

Spielberg’s problems casting the character then melted away and Schieder jumped on board the film and gave an awesome performance. He really was perfect in that role. With the cast ready to go Spielberg could move forward with his production, and what awaited him were a lot of crazy hurdles that he would have to deal with.

But, hey! The casting was perfect!