Henry Winkler thinks he’s a “damn fool” for rejecting Grease role

When it comes to iconic greaser characters in entertainment, Henry Winkler’s Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli is surely near the top of the list, but the actor very nearly added another iconic greaser to his filmography. While speaking with CNN’s Chris Wallace, Henry Winkler revealed that he had rejected an offer to star in the Grease movie as Danny Zuko, a move which he came to regret.

Henry Winkler told Chris Wallace that he was desperate for work. “It was so bad that not only could I not find work, but I was sitting at my desk at Paramount and I literally thought, ‘Am I ever going to find anything with as much impact as the Fonz?’” Winkler said. “How will I know? Will anybody ever ask me? I’m not getting any offers.” When the offer for Grease came along, Henry Winkler feared that he would be typecast and turned the role down, but now admits that he was a “damn fool” for doing so. “I only realized years afterwards…I thought, ‘I’ve played the Fonz. I don’t wanna do it again, but it’s already happened, I’m already typecast,” Winkler said. “I should’ve just shut up and had a really good time making that movie. Now, I go home, I say no, and I have a Diet Coke. John Travolta goes home, and has done the movie, and buys a plane.” Of course, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than John Travolta playing the role of Danny Zuko in Grease, but you have to wonder what the film would have been like if Henry Winkler didn’t say no.

Henry Winkler will return for the fourth season of Barry, which is expected to be the last for the HBO series. Winkler told Variety at the Primetime Emmy Awards earlier this year that co-creators Bill Hader and Alec Berg would “never try to stretch” the series, adding, “they don’t want to push it.” As a performer, he added that he hoped the series would continue, if only so he could continue acting in it.

Would Henry Winkler have made a good Danny Zuko in Grease?