The hilarious extras you MUST look out for in JAWS

When making a movie, extras (or supporting artists) help bring a movie’s world and story to life. Usually extras appear in the background on set. Collectively often referred to as the crowd – the crowd that lingers in scenes behind the actors or more specifically using performance or musical skills. However, not all movie extras are created equal - especially in the case of JAWS.

With the first half of JAWS being set on Amity Island, hundreds of people were needed to create the living, breathing beach resort with a shark problem. As well as established cast, lots of locals were called for bit parts and extras, whilst that mostly added flavour to Jaws with the likes of Ben gardner and Mrs Kintner and Pipit the black labrador, others who had blink and you miss it moments weren't perhaps quite so dedicated. Sometimes they'd go away, sometimes they wouldn't go away.

From the beach to the dockside and the hospital, here's the extras from Jaws who didn't bring anything extra to their involvement...and one, who according to the son of Stephen King, could have been murdered. Residents lucky enough to get picked were paid $64 a day to scream and run across the beach as extras - that’s equivalent to $392 in today’s money.

However, there are some extras who either went ‘off script’, broke the fourth wall or made the most of their big moment. If you’re eagle-eyed and JAWS obsessed like us, these supporting artists are quite easy to spot. We have complied the best of the best below and must warn you, read on at your own risk. Some of these are unseeable once seen.

The laughers

The beach scenes in JAWS are some of the most terrifying in cinema. Tourists and residents enjoying a swim in the waters off Amity Island… the next moment pandemonium. However during both the Alex Kintner attack and the 4th July beach evacuations, at least two extras can be spotted showing big smiles during the panic!

The mysterious lurker

Who is this guy? Wearing sunglasses, a bucket hat and big black coat, this extra’s attempts at being un-noticed are so funny. When Hooper and Brody come in to inspect the dead Tiger shark, the ‘lurker’ walks into centre frame just as Brody walks out, and THEN he appears a few moments later over Hooper’s shoulder while he is taking bite radius measurements. WHO IS THIS GUY?????

Annoyed kid

One of the more subtle extra moments in JAWS happens as Mayor Larry Vaughn is encouraging the elderly couple to enter the water. A kid can be seen to appear in the bottom right hand corner, looking really annoyed, then he disappears back out of frame to continue his beach nap.

Something in the lens?

Whenever using extras you can almost always guarantee there will be at least one instance of them looking straight into the lens of the camera. In JAWS, we’ve spotted seven! One shot has three people looking into the camera at once!

My personal favorite is the doctor in hospital. He does so well until the very last moment….

The Mayor Vaughn heckler

Sometimes it’s ok for a suporting artist to milk their moment. In JAWS, that moment is when Mayor Larry Vaughn is speaking with the news reporter (a cameo by JAWS author Peter Benchley). The extras have clearly been directed to look at the camera and try to get seen on the news. However, one extra takes things to the next level by getting to within a few feet of actor Murray Hamilton and starts waving her arms and flashing peace signs with her fingers!

Have we missed any other mischeivious supporting artists in JAWS? Let us know in the comments!

Words by Ross Williams and Dean Newman

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