Jonathan Filley: My first day shooting JAWS

May 2nd 1974. The first day of principal photography on JAWS and long-time summer residents of Vineyard, Jeffrey Kramer and Jonathan Filley, shared the screen with Roy Scheider at Edgartown's South Beach. The storyline revolves around the disappearance of Chrissie Watkins, a slender and coquettish character, who vanishes after a moonlit swim in the ocean. The following morning, Tom Cassidy (played by Filley), a college student, joins Police Chief Brody in scouring the beach. Their search is abruptly interrupted by the shrill whistle of Deputy Hendricks (portrayed by Kramer), drawing attention to the grim discovery of the girl's fragmented remains partially buried in the sand, marking the unofficial conclusion of the fictional island's summer tourism season.

For Filley, originally from Far Hills, New Jersey, auditioning for a role in "Jaws" was initially just a fleeting notion. While spending time at his family's Chappaquiddick residence in March, the Boston University freshman stumbled upon Universal Studios' "Actors Wanted" advertisement in the Grapevine. Intrigued, he decided to submit a photo and résumé to the provided address.

"At the time, I was pretty sure I wanted to pursue a career that had at least something to do with acting," Filley says. "I just wasn't sure how." In the final stretch of April, as he immersed himself in studying for a geography exam on the Vineyard, a serendipitous chance unfolded. While paying a visit to a friend residing on Dock Street in Edgartown, Filley was informed of attempts by Universal Studios to get in touch with him.

"It turned out that Shari Rhodes was just across the street at the Kelley House," Filley says.

"So I walked over, introduced myself, and read a few lines for the character of Tom Cassidy." Upon revisiting the Kelley House the next afternoon for a second reading with Spielberg, Filley was swiftly dismissed with the standrad "Thanks, we'll let you know." Anticipating minimal prospects for additional callbacks, he redirected his focus to aiding in the painting of a friend's Edgartown ice cream parlor. Days later, a casting assistant stumbled upon him diligently working inside the shop, paintbrush in hand.

"He said, 'Congratulations. You got the part," Filley recalls. "He handed me a portion script and said, 'Here are your pages. You'll be shooting on Thursday.' At that point, my only thought was, 'Shit, I'd better get this paint job done!"

Filley promptly petitioned for an incomplete grade in his college geography course and commenced rehearsals at the Kelley House alongside Spielberg and Scheider.

"I wanted to know my lines and do a good job, but I wasn't really nervous," he says.

"Steven Spielberg wasn't a name most people had ever heard of. He had only done a couple of television movies and a marginally successful feature. So while Jaws was great to be a part of, it wasn't such a big deal at the time. I mean, who knew what this movie would eventually become?"

While Filley approached "Jaws" with a relaxed demeanor, his fellow New Jersey native Jeffrey Kramer viewed it as the breakthrough opportunity he had long been seeking in the realm of feature films. Kramer, the grandson of renowned Vineyard realtor Henry Cronig, had dedicated much of the 1960s to appearing in television commercials and community theater, all while relentlessly pursuing the elusive role that could propel his career forward. During his youth, he spent summers working as a soda jerk at Leslie's Drug Store in Vineyard Haven, crafting frappés "so thick flies got stuck in them," and delivering groceries for the locally owned Cronig's Market. This job often brought him face to face with vacationing Hollywood figures, further fueling his desire for a professional acting career. In 1964, Kramer enrolled at Ithaca College on an acting scholarship and later played a pivotal role in co-founding the Vineyard Players, a summer theatrical group on the Island.

"There were nights we had more ushers than paying audience members, but it was fabu-lous," Kramer says. "We did one show a week in the gymnasium of the Oak Bluffs School. The sets we took from home. We'd take the furniture out of the homes of my grandparents, aunts, uncles. One time a patron said, 'Oh my God, isn't that the Cronigs' living room?" In the latter part of the winter of 1974, Kramer, occupied with orchestrating the Vineyard Players' tenth season from his New York City residence, caught wind of the film that was rapidly infiltrating every aspect of Vineyard existence.

It wasn't until thirty years later that Rhodes would reveal her own rendition of how Kramer's audition unfolded. "I received a letter from Jeff's mother, telling me about what a wonderful actor her son was," Rhodes recounted playfully. "She Included his photo and asked if l'd please meet with him. She wanted us to know that if we gave him a role, we wouldn't even have to put him up in a hotel room because he could just stay at homel And I thought that was so in line with the authentic, small-town feel we were trying to bring to Jaws that I made sure jeff got the audition. Of course, he got the role on his own merit. Jeff was just filled with this glowing, small-town charm and so much personality. Everything just clicked."

In the early hours of May 2, a convoy of large trucks and various utility vehicles gathered along the sandy road at South Beach. Inside a portable dressing unit, Jeffrey Kramer anxiously awaited his cue to begin. Nearby, Spielberg discussed the day's opening shots with Scheider and Filley, their voices competing with the mechanical hum of generators and the constant chatter of walkie-talkies. Amidst the bustling crew, Vineyard Gazette photojournalist Edith Blake cautiously made her way towards the action on the beach. As she prepared her 35mm Pentax camera, she marveled at the array of cinematic equipment scattered across the sand.

"As a photographer, I certainly knew enough about cameras," Blake says. "But not the lights, grips, dollies, trailers, trucks, cables, generators, and just the sheer number of people that it took to do any one thing. It was all so foreign to Marthas Vineyard."

Around nine o'clock, Universal's Panaflex camera started rolling, causing Jeffrey Kramer's stomach to churn nervously. Meanwhile, from the top of a sand dune overlooking the beach action, Blake's camera clicked away fervently.

Adapted from an interview contained in JAWS: Memories From Martha’s Vineyard

If you would like to write for The Daily Jaws, please visit our ‘work with us’ page

For all the latest Jaws, shark and shark movie news, follow The Daily Jaws on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.