In Jaws, the police chief who says, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” is Martin Brody.
Brody is the police chief of Amity Island, the fictional New England resort community threatened by a great white shark. Roy Scheider plays the character, who initially fears the water and becomes increasingly determined to protect the town’s residents.
The line is spoken aboard the Orca after Brody sees the shark at close range. His reaction links the character’s personal fear with the practical problem facing the shark-hunting expedition. The line is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Quint, the veteran fisherman played by Robert Shaw, or to Matt Hooper, the marine biologist played by Richard Dreyfuss.
Jaws, released in 1975, was adapted from Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel. Brody’s character differs between the novel and film in several details, but both versions center on the police chief’s struggle against the shark.