Henry Winkler on that shocking revenge moment – Rolling Stone

Merrick Morton / HBO

This post contains spoilers for the series finale BarryHere we repeat it.

Henry Winkler Hackey, narcissistic acting teacher Gene Cousineau had an acting career for decades before he left to play on HBO’s Barry. Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli broke the sitcoms of the seventies and eighties. Good daysHe became one of the most famous people in the world, and to this day he gets smiles, hugs and dinner parties wherever he goes.

But Cousineau, as iconic as Fonzi, was essential to Winkler’s career – after all this time and all this celebrity, he had a chance to show off his dormant regions and impressive chops due to his long, long shadow. The Fonz’s leather jacket threw off almost all of the work in between.

Cousineau isn’t in many series finales, but he does a single very important act, Barry (given a shot at Rip Torn with a propaganda gun) to avenge the death of Gene’s girlfriend Janice Moss, and b. Barry is ruining the rest of Jean’s life.

Winkler spoke to them last week. A rolling stone Why he thinks Gene pulled the trigger, why he values ​​this role, watching Bill Hader improve as a director and more. (Oh, and there’s also a chance this writer will apologize for a very old sin.)

How did you feel when you found out how Jin’s story ended?
I don’t even know how to describe it. Bill said midway through the season, “Hey, do you want to know how it ends?” i have. I went and said “Sure” “Shoot me”. [Winkler pretends to stammer incredulously] Now I am not an eloquent person. I was speechless. i thought, Oh my god, I never saw that coming in a million years.

Why do you think Jean killed Barry?
I think the turning point was in episode seven, I was lured into the hotel room, and it wasn’t Mark Wahlberg, but it was the DA, and it was Jim Moss, and somehow, I was accused of everything. And I think I thought to myself. That’s too far. You know, killing the woman I love is one thing. Pinning it all on me is crazy. And I went crazy.

Before Gene shoots Barry, we see that Agent Tom is on the verge of convincing Barry to turn himself in and free Gene. Do you think Jin was thinking about the consequences of killing Barry?
I don’t mind. i thought, If this is the trick they put me under, it must be him. And there is no more winning. This is the end of the game.

Gene spends much of the series struggling with the fame he feels he was denied earlier in his career. How do you think the character based and named after him will feel about the movie we’re finally seeing as an action movie villain?
I think they see that Jin, he can’t help himself, he can’t help himself. I don’t think that’s the way he wants fame to come to him. it was right I can’t take this anymore..

You’ve had a long and incredible career. Where would you say Jin ranks among the most complex roles you’ve played?
of. so true. I think, again, I’m very concerned that the wheel of fortune rests on Jean. is not [fake game show host voice] “$25,000!” “You’re going to miss a turn!” No. He stopped at the gin. It is a miracle in my life.

How did it become a miracle?
The writing. A group of human beings that I went to work with every day on every side of the camera. Front, back, leadership. Our fairy tale mistress, Amy Gravitt at HBO, was supportive all through the process. That crew cared for me to within an inch of my life. It’s not so easy to stand up when you’re on the floor at a critical moment in life. That crew was there. They were human cranes.

Trained at Yale. You’ve got these great dramatic chops all this time. Then you became famous as the Fonz, who has a great character but is also pretty straightforward and heroic and funny. After that, have you ever thought of playing such a character?
But I never thought I would play the characters I play. It is a miracle. People say to me, “Wow, 50 years! What a profession. It is very full. And I’m thinking, “I don’t know if this is supposed to happen.” I entered Arrested development For two rooms. I have been there for five years. The Fonz introduced me to the world. 126 Countries Wherever I go, someone invites me to dinner. In any language:Bella Bella! Please come! We will have dinner! My wife cooks!” What an indescribable journey. And I am grateful for every moment

When you leave Los Angeles to enter the business—
I got a thousand dollars from advertising. I thought it would take me about a month. And within two weeks, I auditioned for the Fonz at Paramount, and two weeks later they called me and asked if I wanted to do it.

It’s wonderful. But before you got that audition, did you think much about what your career might be or the parts you wanted to play?
No, believe it or not, I was more practical than that. All I could think was, “Am I going to work?” It was. My agent, Joan Scott, who recruited me right out of graduate school, said to me, “You know, you’re going to be hard to sell.” i thought, That was a 3,000 mile, $1000 mistake I made. And I was so anxious to go, “Ooohhh, I’ve got confidence. Don’t worry about me!”

What has it been like watching Bill grow and develop as a director over these four seasons?
So I know for a fact that he came out to be a director here and stepped aside Saturday Night Live. But when he first started out, he was an assistant editor for a friend of mine at Cooking. You don’t doubt his vision. You know you’re in for a treat. You have a question about your character and all that. But in the main context of the work, in creation, Bill and Alec [Berg] They were great when he was here leading it. And Bill fulfilled his destiny. He would shoot very economically, sometimes we would go out at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. That’s unheard of! Somehow he just shot what he wanted. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just where he belongs.

You have a great reputation in show business for being a great person. I’ve never once heard anyone say anything bad about you, and people’s faces usually light up when your name is mentioned. It’s acting, but what’s it like playing a character who’s the opposite of a household name in this business?
There is a separation. I never think about that. I smoked, when I was doing the Fonz, and people said, “You know, you’ve got a good reputation.” You are this heroic character. Are you sure you want to smoke? ” And then I thought to myself. If I bend myself to be something I don’t want to be, the character falls away, the character diminishes, I diminish it in order to preserve the character. So I didn’t put two and two together. [With Gene]This was my job, this was where he was going, this was who he was. And I brought Henry to him. Halfway through the first season, I turned to Alec and Bill and said, “Oh, I think he’s the guy. Shameful!” At first I thought he was a bad teacher, and they said, “Oh, we can write for that, too.”

You and Rip Thorne were in a movie together, and you did a part of the movie The Larry Sanders Show. How well did you know him?
I didn’t know him well but he is a character. It was now so true A little separation between the person and the screen. He said to me once [Rip Torn impression]“Wow, let me tell you something! The CIA came up behind me and beat me in twos and fours and made me go out and hold a bowl of water!” I went, “Really? Did they do that to you?” He said, “Yes, it was terrible, but I survived. I’m not kidding. It is bitter.

Oh, I believe you. I’m wondering how he might feel that it’s a major plot point in this scene because he keeps shooting people with the gun Rip gave him?
Oh, I think he thinks it’s great. I think he thinks it’s funny. [Rip Torn impression again] “I knew he would use it well! But he shot the boy? That was stupid!”

Finally, I apologize for something that happened 23 years ago.
Well, I’m sorry.

In the year In 2000, he was nominated for a comedy guest starring role in an episode of The Show. Battery Park.
Yes! Gary David Goldberg!

But I watched all the episodes that aired before they were canceled, and I don’t remember you being in any of them. I called someone at the academy to clarify, and they got back to me a few hours later and said they found out the show aired Saturday afternoon on the West Coast, after golf and after the qualifying window had closed. So they took your appointment and gave it to William H. Macy. That’s not what I was trying to do! And I felt a lot of guilt for years until she finally won an Emmy for it. Sorry. I’m not trying to be a narc. i swear.
No, because now it has become an amazing story. Who knows what might happen first? But I will say, how wonderful to know that you are.

[a long pause follows, and then the nicest man in show business’s demeanor turns menacing for just a moment, because he is a great actor]

Put the phone down next time!