Jaws is one of the best animal attack movies about the hunt for a great white shark who went after beachgoers. Ian Shaw, son of the late Robert Shaw, who played shark hunter Quint, wrote all about that movie in the play The Shark is Broken. This play centers on the behind-the-scenes relationship between Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider while filming the Steven Spielberg classic. Dreyfuss got to see the play himself and said he felt “hurt” by it.
Richard Dreyfuss was one of the stars of Jaws who played marine biologist Matt Hooper. Vanity Fair reported the veteran actor watched a performance of “The Shark is Broken” unimpressed by what he saw of the alleged feud between him and Robert Shaw.
“I went to see it, to see if it really was gonna hurt. And it did,” said Dreyfuss. “It was pretty awful. Ian [Shaw]—who has more than any right to write whatever he wants—never called me and said, ‘Give me some background.’ Or, ‘Give me your take on this and this.’ And they just decided to make my character a big jerk.”
Apparently, Ian Shaw used his late father’s diary as a reference while writing the play with Joseph Nixon. But, it looks like there’s more to the story from Dreyfuss’ point of view.
How was the alleged feud in The Shark is Broken Depicted?
The Shark is Broken portrayed Robert Shaw as an English actor and alcoholic. Richard Dreyfuss was shown as, according to Vanity Fair, “neurotic, fame-obsessed, comically insecure.” The Mr. Holland’s Opus actor said some parts in the play were true like when Shaw made a bet with Dreyfuss he couldn’t do five push-ups. Other parts like a scene when the American Graffiti actor has a panic attack he said was far from true.
Another thing Richard Dreyfuss found fictional was that he and Shaw never fought. In reality, they actually had each other’s numbers and an “incredible relationship.” Rumors that there was a feud between the two Jaws co-stars have been circulating for over a decade. Dreyfuss blamed Steven Spielberg and Jaws co-screenwriter Carl Gottlieb for adding fuel to the fire.
“Thirty years after the film is over, I start to hear this thing about a feud,” said Dreyfuss. “I have to say that Carl and Steven knew better, knew that there was no feud. There was an ongoing kind of humor between us. If you only saw us on the set, then you might think that there was something—a feud that was going on—but it was never real. Never. And I hold that against Carl and Steven.”
It’s possible that what happened on set was just silly bantering. The Poseidon actor said the only moment of tension came when he threw Shaw’s bourbon overboard, and the English actor retaliated by “almost drowning” Dreyfuss with a hose. One bad moment on set, however, does not make bad blood.
As the only living Jaws actor of the three leads today, Richard Dreyfuss knew how important it was for him to speak out. If you plan on seeing this play at the John Gold Theatre in New York, its final performance is on November 19.
