Iconic Hollywood legend Charlton Heston held a long-term grudge against director Steven Spielberg, and it all dates back to 1975’s Jaws. While some people might remember him primarily for his long tenure as president of the National Rifle Association, before he became a political figure, Heston carved out an acting career anyone would be jealous of. Heston starred in such classic films as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Planet of the Apes, and Soylent Green, becoming one of the biggest movie stars around in the process.
Meanwhile, Spielberg would eventually become the most commercially successful director in movie history, making so many beloved hits that listing them could fill the rest of this paragraph. Spielberg’s rise to Hollywood deity of course began with Jaws, which quickly became a cultural phenomenon, and single-handedly established the idea of a movie being a “summer blockbuster.” Considering the fact that Heston continued acting until the early 2000s, it’s kind of amazing that he and Spielberg never collaborated on a project.
However, there’s actually a specific reason for that. It turns out Heston and Spielberg came very close to working together on Jaws, but it didn’t come to pass, leading to a lasting issue between the two men.
Jaws Explains Charlton Heston’s Grudge Against Steven Spielberg
Charlton Heston, who had worked with Universal many times by that point, very much wanted to play Amity police chief Martin Brody in Jaws. He was also the studio’s preferred choice, and his star power could certainly have theoretically helped the film. Yet, despite the fact that he was still unproven as a director, Steven Spielberg was entirely against casting Heston as Brody. He had nothing against the actor, but feared that he was just too big a star, and that his screen presence would overshadow what was meant to be a mild-mannered character. Plus, Heston had recently played heroic roles in films like Earthquake!, and Spielberg thought this would lead Jaws viewers to see Heston prevailing over the shark as a foregone conclusion.
It took some convincing, but eventually, Spielberg was able to convince producers to cast Roy Scheider as Chief Brody, and the rest is movie history. However, Heston was personally offended by Spielberg passing him over for the role in Jaws, and vowed never to work with the director. Sure enough, when Spielberg offered Heston a major role in his comedy 1941, the actor turned him down flat. It also didn’t help that Heston was bothered by the script for 1941, which he found to be insulting to Americans who served in World War II. It’s unclear if Heston and Spielberg ever managed to bury the hatchet prior to Heston’s death in 2008, but they did indeed never work together.
More: Every Jaws Movie Ranked, Worst To Best
