All That Jaws: Richard Dreyfuss was originally cast in All That Jazz instead of Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider rightfully earned his second Oscar nomination for his role in All That Jazz (1979), but the character of Joe Gideon was originally to be played by Richard Dreyfuss.
Talk about All That Jaws, as the role eventually went from the Matt Hooper actor to the Chief Brody one.
Writer and director Bob Fosse had settled on Richard Dreyfuss as his alter ego, even though he wasn’t a dancer. Dreyfuss was on the crest of a wave with Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and just coming of his Best Actor Oscar win with The Goodbye Girl (1977).
At his friend Roy Scheider’s apartment Dreyfuss said, he didn’t think he wanted to do this movie.
Speaking on the All That Jazz DVD commentary, Scheider remembered that visit from his Jaws co-star. Scheider said: “This part was originally cast with Richard Dreyfuss. When Mr Fosse went to Columbia Studios and showed them the script they were scared to death, because it's a very strange and unusual musical comedy, but they had Dreyfuss who had just won an Academy Award for The Goodbye Girl that year.
“Rick was a friend of mine, and he came by my apartment in New York to visit the family, and he said to me ‘I don't think I want to do this movie.’ I asked him why and he said ‘I don't like Fosse and Fosse doesn't like me, and I just don't feel mentally prepared to do this thing.’
“I said to him, ‘Rick, you'd better tell him because you've been in rehearsal for a week,’ so he did tell him and he left the picture, you know, the usual artistic disagreements.”
Not that Dreyfuss didn’t regret it, as years later he realised that he’d given up the opportunity of a lifetime to work with Bob Fosse, he even told the man himself. Dreyfuss said: “It was stupid of me.”
The hunt for a leading man was on again, with everyone from Paul Newman, Alan Alda, Gene Hackman, George Segal, Elliot Gould, Robert Redford and James Caan in the frame. To quote Matt Hooper in Jaws, you got any better suggestions? Well, Scheider did, himself.
Sure, he was no more of a dancer than Dreyfuss, but after reading the script he was hooked.
In the film’s commentary, Scheider said: “My agent who was also Fosse's agent called me up and asked if I would like to read this script, and it blew my mind. I told him to get me a meeting with Fosse right away.”
Meeting sorted, Scheider even put together an autobiographical monologue to audition. And it worked, as Fosse decided Scheider was “wryly, wearily, sexily at ease.”
Scheider in the film’s commentary said of Fosse: “He went to bat for me with the studio but they said no, the other agents said no, everyone said it was artistic suicide. ‘Roy Scheider? The guy from The French Connection? You've got to be kidding.’ But Fosse stuck with me and said this is the guy, and so we began.
Filming started just two weeks later, it’s showtime folks! Although Scheider will be best remembered for his role as Chief Brody in Jaws, his favourite was that in All That Jazz.
It also gave him some of his best reviews, not to mention that second Oscar nomination.
Words by Dean Newman
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