Henry Winkler says he's a 'fool' for rejecting iconic Danny Zuko role in Grease
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo / Paramount Pictures
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
The Waterboy star Henry Winkler has admitted he's a 'damn fool' for turning down the now-iconic role of Danny Zuko in Grease.
It goes without saying: everyone knows Grease. From Danny and Sandy Halloween costumes, to group karaoke renditions of 'Summer Nights' and school theatre recreations, the 1978 film continues to make its mark on society more than 40 years after its release.
It's hard to imagine now anyone other than Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in the leading roles, belting out 'You're The One That I Want', but of course, there was at one point a number of possibilities for the cast.
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Winkler was among those who had the chance to snap up the role of Danny after establishing himself as Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli on the sitcom Happy Days, but he's admitted to rejecting the offer despite the fact he was struggling to find his next role.
In an interview with CNN, the actor, now 77, recalled: “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?"
"How will I know? Will anybody ever ask me? I’m not getting any offers'," he added.
In spite of his fears, Winkler rejected the role of Danny because he felt the character was too similar to the Fonz, and he didn't want to become typecast.
When asked if he thinks himself a 'damn fool' for his decision, Winkler said: "Yes. I am. 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'.
“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.”
Grease was made with an estimated budget of $6,000,000 (£5m), and following its success in theatres, brought in a whopping $396,271,103 (£334.8m) worldwide.
Winkler did, of course, go on to earn a number of other acting credits, though it's debatable whether any of them were as huge as Travolta's Danny.
He continued to play The Fonz in Happy Days until 1984, before going on to appear in the Adam Sandler films The Waterboy and Little Nicky, as well as Holes, Click and, more recently, Arrested Development. He has also appeared in Dwayne Johnson's new DC film, Black Adam.