The Shark Is Broken is a play running on Broadway right now. It’s a fictional account of what the three main stars of Jaws (1975) got up to between takes during filming. Those three main stars are Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw, whose son Ian Shaw co-wrote the show and plays the character of his father. Well, Richard Dreyfuss went to see the play, posed and smiled for pictures with the cast afterwards, and is now bemoaning how awful it is. He just doesn’t understand why they chose to make his character a “fool” and a “jerk.” Plus he has a totally solid explanation for why it may have appeared that he and Robert Shaw were feuding on the original film set:
Dreyfuss, who played marine biologist Matt Hooper in the 1975 thriller, said in a Thursday story by Vanity Fair that he attended the comedy-drama “to see if it really was gonna hurt” — before confirming just that.
The Oscar winner complained that “The Shark Is Broken” portrayed a feud between himself and fellow actor Robert Shaw, who played shark hunter Quint in the film. Dreyfuss said their real-life friendship never hit rough waters, adding that they’d just make lighthearted jabs at one another “to make the hours go better, faster.”
“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,” said Dreyfuss, suggesting that Spielberg and co-screenwriter Carl Gottlieb had spread rumors of a conflict.
Dreyfuss was also not happy that the play showed him as a “fool.”
“They didn’t do that to Roy, and they didn’t do that to Robert. And that hurt because it wasn’t true,” Dreyfuss said, referring to Roy Scheider, another “Jaws” star.
“It was pretty awful,” Dreyfuss said about seeing the play, adding that he had not been contacted for his perspective during the writing of “The Shark Is Broken.”
“They just decided to make my character a big jerk,” he said.
Ah, so it only looked like a feud if you were… watching and listening to them. This is like the Emperor’s New Clothes of explanations. I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t know more about Robert Shaw’s work, but I’ve been a lifelong lover of Roy Scheider ever since I first saw him in All That Jazz (probably when I was too young to see that film). So Dick, you know why they didn’t make Roy look like a jerk? Because he wasn’t one!!! Turns out, it IS possible to be a really really good actor, without also being a schmuck. Richard Dreyfuss is just a sad, sorry case study, because he was a great actor. But his resume over the last 15 years has included suing his father for a loan made in the 80s, being credibly accused of sexual misconduct on a set in 1984, and lamenting that he no longer has the option to perform in blackface. If you don’t see what’s jerky about that, Richard, then you’re gonna need a bigger mirror.
Photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon and Getty
Richard Dreyfus’s has a very long record of being accused of being an asshat. I can’t imagine why he gave this show such publicity by complaining because no one would have heard about it if he wasn’t going on justifying his behavior, which was 40 years ago. Take the hit for being a jerk in your 20’s and move on.
I saw the movie only once years later when I was a child and even at that time Richard Dreyfuss’s dickiness was a renown fact.
He was played as a fool because he was one lol
I hope the writers are having a good chuckle over Richard’s comments today! Dreyfus is a well known jerk, and that’s putting it gently. Sounds like the play nails it.
I don’t pay much attention to Richard Dreyfuss, but it seems like every time he does manage to cross my awareness, it’s somehow related to him being a shit. So…
“Turns out, it IS possible to be a really really good actor, without also being a schmuck.”
This.
That face lift is terrible that Dreyfus’s got. 😂😂
Pretty Awful 😂😂
My goodness, Ian Shaw is just the spittin’ image of his dad!
(All pub is good pub, so thanks RD.)
I have to admit….MY GEN X ❤️ skipped seeing Ian…as I ADORED his Daddy as an actor❣️. Regarding Dreyfuss…whom I ALSO once adored…as a 10 year old after seeing my FAVE rom-com “The Goodbye Girl”…I wanted him to be my boyfriend…these last 10 years …I can’t even watch him anymore…he’s just awful😠
I haven’t been able to enjoy Richard Dryfuss for a long time and “The Goodbye Girl” is also one of my favorites. Fortunately the remake with Jeff Daniels and Patricia Heaton (despite her) is pretty great.
Oh Richard, self-awareness is not your strong suit is it?
Also I seem to remember he used to talk about the issues he had Shaw had on set before coming to a truce of sorts. Sowhatisthetruth.gif ?
Shaw was a very heavy drinker which caused him some problems on set (which is portrayed to my understanding); and I really haven’t heard anything negative about Scheider (RIP).
Robert Shaw was a brilliant actor and his work is wonderful. Aside from Jaws, my favorite film role of his is “The Sting”, with Robert Redford and Paul Newman. He’s perfectly cast as the mob boss villain. And sadly, Shaw did have a serious drinking problem which was known to spill over onto the sets. But I would encourage anyone who hasn’t seen his work outside of Jaws to check out more of his films.