10 Horror Actors Forced Into Roles They Never Wanted

Jaws is one of the most recognizable motion pictures out there. The killer shark, fantastic cast, Spielberg's direction, and the iconic theme, all came together to make a bona fide hit. With success like this, Universal Studios wanted to capture the lightning in the bottle of the original by making Jaws 2. Though Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss did not return, the film did get lead actor Roy Scheider back.

How they got him back, however, is a different story.

The actor had recently left the production of The Deer Hunter, which was a big project for the studio. This presented problems for Scheider as he was locked into a multi-picture deal contract with Universal and, in order to make it up to them, he was signed on to Jaws 2 whether he liked it or not. Naturally, Scheider was none too happy with this and even pleaded insanity just to not be in the movie, but to no avail.

Even during production, trouble would start as the actor and director Jeannot Szwarc clashed on multiple occasions, which even led to a physical confrontation. Still, kudos to Roy Scheider as, despite his heavy reluctance, he does manage to bring gravitas in Jaws 2, and is the best part of the movie.