10 Tiny Details Actors Requested For Movies
5. Roy Scheider Requested To Wear His Police Badge On His Left - Jaws
Though it's often cited as a "goof" that Jaws' police chief protagonist Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wears his police badge on the wrong side of his uniform, this is actually no mistake at all.
Indeed, police in reality traditionally wear their shield on the left side, intended to cover their heart, but Brody instead wore his on the right side of his shirt.
In an interview with Empire magazine, the film's co-writer Carl Gottlieb confirmed that this switcharoo was not a mistake but instead the actual suggestion of star Roy Scheider himself:
"All cops wear their badge on the left. Roy insisted on it so I asked him, 'Why are you doing that?' He said, 'I want the audience to think this guy is complicated. This subonsciously throws the audience off balance.' It was great to have an audience's interest piqued by this little wardrobe tweak. I always thought that was an amazing choice."
Given that Brody is effectively the film's single example of forward-thinking authority, it makes sense that he isn't cut from quite the same buttoned-down cloth as his fellow servicemen - whether you noticed it or not.