Retro-Cast: Casting Jaws In The 1990s

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is one of the most significant movies in Hollywood history. Jaws’ high-concept premise, genre thrills, and summer release window have inspired every big blockbuster since the shark thriller hit theaters. Released in 1975, at the height of the New Hollywood movement, Jaws starred The French Connection’s Roy Scheider and American Graffiti’s Richard Dreyfuss.

If Peter Benchley’s Jaws wasn’t adapted right away and it sat on a shelf in a studio executive’s office until the 1990s, actors like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts might have filled the lead roles instead.

8 Tom Hanks As Chief Brody

What makes Chief Brody a compelling protagonist is that he’s an everyman. He’s afraid of the water, he makes mistakes that have dire consequences, and he’s embarrassed during the scar comparison scene because his little wound pales in comparison to Hooper and Quint’s gruesome injuries.

Roy Scheider played this aspect of the character brilliantly. In the ‘90s, the same role could’ve been played by quintessential everyman Tom Hanks. Affable to a fault, Hanks played similar put-upon everyman roles in such films as The Green Mile and Saving Private Ryan.

7 Winona Ryder As Chrissie Watkins

Winona Ryder was one of the biggest stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Casting the star of Heathers and Edward Scissorhands to appear in the opening scene of Jaws, only to have her devoured by a shark moments later, would be comparable to Drew Barrymore’s appearance in the opening scene of Scream.

This gambit massively subverts the audience’s expectations – going back to its original use in Psycho – and sets the perfect mood for a horror movie.

6 Edward Norton As Matt Hooper

Chief Brody’s crewmates offer sharp counterpoints to his everyman characterization: Quint is a hard-as-nails badass on one end of the spectrum, and Hooper is awkward and geeky on the other end of the spectrum.

Edward Norton’s turn as a timid office worker who fades into the crowd in Fight Club proves he could bring the same nerdiness to Hooper that Richard Dreyfuss did. The character also has a fire in his belly – as seen when he stands up to the likes of Quint and Mayor Vaughn – and Norton’s aggressive, curb-stomping performance in American History X demonstrates that he’s more than capable of handling those emotions.

5 Julia Roberts As Ellen Brody

Lorraine Gary made her big-screen debut as Ellen Brody in Jaws. She only appears in the first half of the movie, but she has enough memorable moments – like sneaking up behind her husband to spook him while he’s reading – to leave an impression on viewers.

In the ‘90s, hit romcoms like Pretty Woman and Notting Hill made Julia Roberts a universally recognizable star. Roberts was embraced by audiences for her endearing warmth, which is what the role of Ellen needs.

4 Andy García As Mayor Larry Vaughn

Jaws’ depiction of a politician who’s more interested in keeping the economy afloat than saving lives when a deadly force threatens his constituents is more relevant than ever today.

Murray Hamilton did a fantastic job of playing Mayor Vaughn as a political figure who speaks well but lacks morals. The combination of charm and amorality that Hamilton brought to the role could’ve been replicated by Andy García. His nuanced turn as the similarly immoral Vincent Corleone was one of the few aspects of 1990’s The Godfather Part III that critics enjoyed.

3 Salma Hayek As Deputy Hendricks

Before getting her breakthrough with the lead role in the 2002 biopic Frida, Salma Hayek rose to prominence with supporting roles in ‘90s movies like Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Wild Wild West.

Jeffrey Kramer’s portrayal of Chief Brody’s sidekick Deputy Hendricks in the first two Jaws movies was pretty unmemorable. But with the dry comic deliveries that Hayek brought to Kevin Smith’s Dogma, the character might’ve stood out more.

2 Susan Sarandon As Mrs. Kintner

When Mayor Vaughn refuses to close the beach despite the string of shark killings, the great white claims a young boy named Alex Kintner as its next victim. Alex’s grief-stricken mother confronts Brody when she learns that he knew about the shark and still allowed the beach to open. Mrs. Kintner’s slap in the face is just the motivation Brody needs to circumvent the mayor’s restrictions and do his job.

Lee Fierro sold the gravity of the situation with the authentic emotions of a parent in mourning wrapped up in a Hitchcockian B-movie. In the same era as such classics as Thelma & Louise and Dead Man Walking, Susan Sarandon could’ve knocked this role out of the park.

1 Morgan Freeman As Quint

Robert Shaw gave a powerful performance as Quint in the original Jaws. The role required a seasoned actor who, like Shaw, can carry the weight of the world on their shoulders and convey the wisdom of years of experience in their field. In the ‘90s, Morgan Freeman would’ve been the ideal choice.

Around the same time he earned critical acclaim for playing a veteran inmate in The Shawshank Redemption, Freeman would’ve made a great veteran shark hunter in Jaws. Freeman’s famously captivating voice would’ve been perfect for the iconic Indianapolis speech.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3458 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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