Jaws 3D par Romain Néophyte

Passionné à la fois par la vie marine et la télévision dès sa plus tendre enfance, Greg May aura su se donner les moyens d’ accomplir ce dont il rêvait. Dès 1975, ce très sympathique floridien intègre les rangs du SeaWorld d’ Orlando, apprenant entre autre à nourrir les requins à mains nues! Puis 5 ans plus tard, il devient producteur de sa propre émission de TV « Central Florida Spotlight » qui lui permettra de rentrer en contact avec une partie du casting de Jaws 3D.
« During the production, I interacted with Dennis Quaid and Bess Armstrong. These two young actors were very cooperative. Dennis was a hunk! He was very friendly and seemed to enjoy my interview. While we were taking publicity pictures he said, « C’mon Greg, let’s get cozy » and he put his arm around me. Since I used to work for SeaWorld I was jealous he got to swim with the animals! The photo of me & Dennis Quaid was taken during our interview. He is in his wetsuit. He had been swimming in a training tank with two beluga whales and he was shivering – SeaWorld chills the water to 50 degrees! I don’t think the belugas were ever used in the movie…

BESS ARMSTRONG was a sweetheart! She was a natural as a SeaWorld trainer – young, enthusiastic and she looked great in her swimsuit. i interviewed her while she was working with the killer whales. I would give my left testicle if I could find those tapes from my show – you must remember this was done in the 80’s… I could have had an interview with Simon McCorkindale, but I didn’t know who he was! He was unknown at the time. Wow! I missed an opportunity! He was sitting there all cool and collected with a charming smile on his face. A few years later I’m watching him with Mia Farrow and Bette Davis in DEATH ON THE NILE. »

Au sujet de Louis Gossett Jr, Greg se montre beaucoup moins enthousiaste:  » He was an asshole – pardon my french. He preferred to stay in his dressing room and rarely gave interviews. Rumor had it he was snorting coke throughout the film. He had just recovered from some bad publicity about sharing cocaine with his son before the crew came to Orlando« . Un triste évènement dont le principal interressé donne quelques eclaircissements dans son indispensable biographie « an Actor and a Gentleman » .

Mais Greg ne s’arrête pas là: « I met RUPERT HITZIG in a bar near SeaWorld. Since I am fascinated my marine life parks i particularly enjoyed hearing him talk about scouting out the various parks in Florida like Marineland and SeaQuarium in Miami. As I mentionned earlier, the dome in the background of the movie poster was from SeaQuarium. Rupert told me that he had high hopes JAWS 3-D would be a blockbuster so he could retire to the Bahamas. Sorry, Rupert. »

La plus drôle des anecdotes concerne cependant le soigneur Dan Blasko qui n’aura visiblement pas laissé un très bon souvenir à notre ami Greg: « There was this arrogant trainer that worked at SeaWorld. There’s a scene in the shark tank where the young shark turms belly-up in the holding tank and Bess screams for Danny. When Dan says his lines the sound editor must have been on drugs because the soundtrack is speeded up and made this « macho man » sound like Mickey Mouse. When JAWS 3-D was previewed for SeaWorld employees the audience howled!  »

Sur tous les fronts, Greg May a aussi eu l’ opportunité d’assister au tournage de deux scènes qui ont survécu à la table de montage: « The scenes i observed being filmed included the brothers meeting each other and throwing their arms around each other at the park’s entrance. A number of extras were used to be « park guests » and I was impressed with the meticulous direction of Rupert Hitzig. Because of his coaching, each extra knew how many steps to take and when to stop. I also observed Bess Armstrong filming scenes working with the killer whales.The animals took to her very quickly and loved her as much as she loved them. » De quoi rendre jaloux, n’ importe quel fan du film! Quoi qu’ il en soit, Greg reviendra sur Jaws-3d.com avec de nouvelles révélations sur la Neptune Room et son bassin à requin dans les jours qui viennent. En attendant, je vous invite à consulter son superbe site consacré entièrement à la magie de la Floride: florida-backroads-travel.com . Encore merci.