Henry Winkler, Let it Percolate

Henry Winkler learned he was dyslexic while helping his son with a school project. He and Donald discuss what it's like to be an actor who frequently reads in front of large groups with a disability. Later, Winkler wrote 40 children's books with his partner Lin Oliver. Mr. Winkler walks us through his time on Happy Days, watching Ron Howard evolve into a director, and the first time he saw Robin Williams.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
How are you, Donald Faison.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
You know I'm gonna be honest with you.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yes, we don't want you to lie. No one wants lies.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I'm good.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
I'm living to dream. I've got a lot of hardware
in my house and I kind of like it.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
What's the hardware. Oh, it's animation gear.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
I got a shit ton of animation gear. Like, I
got a lot of stuff.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
First of all, shout out to the people that like
A Like A Studios and the people at Stupid Buddy
Studios who have been very supportive of my animation and
the things that I want to do with animation, and
Rob Ronning and his team of puppeteered puppet makers and
stuff like that. Thank you to a whole bunch of people,
Brad Schiff, all your mentors, all my mentors, all my buddies.

(00:49):
It's a small community, but it's a very helping community.
And because of this, I now have a junior, a
compact junior motion control rig, and I have something that's
called a jetpack that you put on the back of
puppets that helps with subtle movements. And this is because
of the people at Leika and the people at Stupid

(01:12):
Buddy Studios.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Wow, so you have a real like so the motion
control camera rig is going to allow you you to
move the camera and crane up and down as you're animating.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Correct.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
What happens is I program it to do what I
wanted to do before I film. It's a lot of
blocking obviously, but then with animating, instead of having to
worry about with the camera and the focus and all
of that, because that's already pre set. Now I can
now just focus on the animating and.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
The story I want to tell.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
That's that's amazing, dude. It's like you're a you're an
artist who got a very fancy new instrument. Let's say
you're a guitarist and you've got a very very fancy
new guitar.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
You know what, It reminds me of godday you got
your first movie camera, where you were like, I can
freaking make a movie on my own right now.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
I know. And I took a lot of pride too,
and a good person. There were there were shots from
my Red Kimodo that were in the movie, yes, and
I was very pleased that it looked as good as
it did. My own camera were some of the shots
were shot from that. If you saw the movie, all
the shots of Florence swimming in the beginning, that was
all just my my red Kimodo, which is a beautiful camera.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Those are some great shots. To really think about it, like, yeah,
you know what I mean. It opens the movie.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
It opens the movie.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, Donald, that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
I'm going to Europe to visit our friend Josh Raiden.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I like this. These are the things that I don't like.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
But you're not coming. Well, you you can't. You never
want to do stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
I've got kids, Yeah, you do have kids.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Well, Josh Reiden and I don't have kids. So we're
going to hang out together in Europe.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Where in Europe?

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, we're first I'm.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Going where can where can the people find you?

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Well this will come out long after I'm gone, but
we're starting in Stockholm, where Josh is a regular and
I've been to Stockholm a couple of times and it's
a beautiful city. And and then we're gonna work our
way through. We're going to go to Paris, and then
there's a dot dot dot about what we do next.
But we have some time to play.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Go to go to London.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
I may I've been in London the most of all,
so I'm trying to get outside of my box. I
got this new Do you see this G Shock watch
I got? Isn't that cool?

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Is that from our shot shock spots around?

Speaker 4 (03:43):
No?

Speaker 1 (03:43):
I wish they did. I I have some fancy watches,
and people told me don't wear fancy watches, uh traveling
because you'll get your arm cut off. So wait, well,
you know if you have a fancy, nice watch, you're
you're sort of a target for being robbed obviously, So.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
You think they're gonna rob you just because you're Zach Raft?

Speaker 1 (04:05):
No, No, just because if I was wearing a nice
watch like a dummy walking around the wrong place at
the wrong time, I could be have my arm cut off.
So I want to keep my hands.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Got it.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
So my friend, who's a big watch guy, said, oh,
just go get a cool G shock and let me
tell you something. G Shock is not a sponsor of
this podcast, but they should because look how cool this
thing is.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
It's pretty nice. It's pretty nice g Shock watch. Goddamn,
what's going on?

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Joel?

Speaker 2 (04:34):
How are you living Man? I'm great.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Took a breath to say it, and everything next hel
Joel living Man?

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, I followed Joel on Instagram. It looks like she's
living her best life from the Instagram fields things. But
I guess that's true for everyone, right, we all post
like the best shot. Yeah, I I don't.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
I don't.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
I don't appreciate the person that's just like, I'm gonna
post all my bullshit on Instagram.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
I appreciate the person that's like, I'm gonna fake it.
I appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
You don't wann't want to see negativity, You're gonna mute negativity.
I like to see you. Show me something made me.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Laugh, show me, make me happy, inspire me.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
I sent Donald the funniest fucking meme, which I'm not
even gonna talk about this on the on the podcast.
It's too it's too x rated even for us. But
that ship is funny. Boy.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
You send me a couple that have been like, oh ship.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
I'm talking about the one, the one, the one that
was related to kind of lingis Oh my god, h
listen Donald. I send Donald so many memes and he

(05:54):
doesn't reply to motest. But once in a while I
got an L O L and I feel like I
want a prize. You get a ha ha yeah, ha
ha ha ha and also if you put a bee
before it, baha ha ha ha, it's even harder. I
am sorry. They didn't pick up a Shoka ah Sosca.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Did they cancel Ahska too, didn't they?

Speaker 4 (06:17):
No?

Speaker 5 (06:18):
Acolyte canceled the Accolte.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Oh, we'll get a second season.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
Get that right for me. I may have fucked that up.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
No, that's fine, don't worry about it. You could say
that ship. I don't want to.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
I don't want to make mistakes. But uh, they canceled
the Acolyte the Acolyte, Okay, but they didn't know.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
I'm gonna be honest with you now that it's gone,
Thank goodness, they canceled that ship.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Well, I guess all. I guess all the mega fans
agreed with you, Donald because they they it's.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
Not about it's listen. I'm gonna just say one thing.
They were stepping into waters that were just a little
too deep. They were stepping into the lore of Darth's
plagus the Wise. And if you're gonna do that, you
have to really really I don't want to hear the
I don't want to hear about his apprentice. I want
to hear about the You.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Know you're a sexy ass apprentice. That's crazy, Donald eighty
five the reason.

Speaker 6 (07:08):
Taking off his don't.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
This listen? Listen?

Speaker 3 (07:15):
There was one episode of that show that was worth
watching everything else. I'm sorry it was very slow paced.
You could have tied all of that into one episode.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Many issues.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, well, you know what, I've been watching that I
we had Tony hal On and I I went back
and I started watching the final season of VIEP because
I don't think i'd seen it, And man, that is
the funniest show ever. Like that is the funniest ever.
I will tell you that. I can't think of a
half hour common you that has more laugh out loud

(07:48):
humor per minute than VEEP. It's just it's insane, the amount.
It's just all it is set up joke, set up joke,
joke joke joke, set up joke, I setup joke.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
It's like, my question, my question is this by season?
Are you saying this? Are you saying as a whole
in general? I'm saying because there are certain seasons of
the Office that are fucking lights out compared on Televison.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
Now, yeah, they're both, they're both. We're talking about you know,
we're talking about rarefied air. We're talking about some of
the funniest shows of our of our lives. I think
Veep is one of the funniest comedies I've seen in
my adult life. Half hour comedies. Yeah, the cast is
just unbelievable, and they get away with saying the most horrid,
crazy shit because everyone's a bad person. They're all such

(08:39):
horrible people that they have license to say the most inappropriate,
insane shit. It's brilliant writing. And Tony Hale is so funny.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
My god, the one that says the least.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Yeah, he's like, he's like the only nice person and
he's the only angel. Well, I'm so thrilled we have
Henry Winkler on today. I mean, this is a big honor.
I mean, Donald and I Donald and I grew up
at the time when this, when you know, Happy Days
was a really important show. I mean, I can't speak

(09:14):
for you, Don, but in my life, it was a
really important show. And then I and then the fact
that he has had gone on to have so much
other success and other things makes me just so happy
for him. He's known as like literally being the nicest
guy in Hollywood.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Dude, He's one of my mentors and he probably doesn't
even know he's one of my mentors. That's how amazing
Henry Winkler is, you know what I mean, like one
of my first Like listen, you know me, Zach.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
You know how I take a lot of things.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
I don't take a lot of things serious things that
I should take really seriously.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
I fucking kind of like, hey, you know, it is
what it is, right, It's just how I am.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yes, and I did that, and we're going to talk
about this with him, obviously, But I did that when
I was shooting and clueless. They were like, yo, Henry
Wikelers coming in to direct for the week. Everybody, this
is a great time. You're gonna have a It's going
to be amazing. And I went out that night and
partied at a club until like four o'clock in the morning,
and and missed my call time by like an hour

(10:17):
and walked to and and they called me. They woke
me up with a phone call and I run to
you know, I get my car, I drive to Paramount,
jump out of my car, put on all of this,
all my clothes, put my makeup on, you know you
and deep ship when the makeup artists ain't saying shit
to you, and the make it close just looking at.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
You like mm hmm, you dumb ass motherfucker.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
Right right to be associated with your right.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know, you're in deep ship. So I get all
my shit on and I run the set and Henry
b lines right towards me, and I'm.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
Like he was directing the episode, directing the.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
Episode, and I'm like, oh shit, here we go.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
And I'm like, first of all, I get very combative
when when people try to fucking authority, you know, when
people are.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
I hate authority. So you never noticed that, right, So
when anybody tries to fucking you know, puff up, I
puff back. That's just how I am.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
Right, So he comes up to me and I'm ready
to puff back and he hits me with the kind
of shit.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Ever, we're not gonna do this here. We're not going
to have an argument. You're late.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
We need to get to work and we need to
catch up. So whatever it is that you've got going on,
let's put that behind us. Let's get on set, and
let's give it our best.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Oh my god, And I'm like, oh shit, like he
just completely diffused me everything.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
Like I'm ready to fucking fight the Fonds and this
motherfuckers like chill, chill.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Let's fucking right.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, so we do the shit.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
He not only is pitching me jokes, he not only
is giving me different rhythms on how to act, he's
also freaking talking to me like I'm like, I'm a
human being, like instead of just you know, a lot
of these actors, a lot of directors see actors a
certain way.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
He was talking and you were young. You know you're
saying he was talking to you like a peer, not
a kid.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Not a kid, right, all right?

Speaker 3 (12:09):
And so from that moment on, he and I have
had a relationship that I said that I look at
it as a mentorship.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
He might not see it that way, but he's done
so much for my life. We'll leave it at that.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
All right. Well, I'll tell you let's bring him in.
Henry Winklers here everybody time.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
Do you want to kind of stamp.

Speaker 6 (12:30):
Six seven stories? I'm not sure we made about a
bunch of talks and nurses. I said, he's a story.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
So YadA ra here, yeada here, Oh there they.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Are, Oh my, oh my goodness, Henry Winkler. I'm it's
so I don't know that we've ever met in person.
But my name is Zach and I'm a massive fan
of yours.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
Zach. We met at a an affair for children's hi.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
V Yes, at the Elizabeth Glazer p Ads.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yes, that's right, you were with You came with me
actually that year, and we've had Wilder with us and
I introduced you.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Oh, yes, that's right. Well, we've just been talking because
we do a little pre thing before the show, Henry,
and we've both been talking about how much you and
your career have meant to us. Wow, and in lots
of different ways which we'll go into, but from the bottom,
from my most sincere heart, it's an honor to have

(13:49):
you on the show and to you Wow.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
What a that's a great way to start.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Well, it's the truth. It is the truth you have.
I mean, you've known me.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
I was twenty three years old when I was fresh
and knew in this industry and almost directed me and
and and you know, ever since I can remember, I've
being in Hollywood, being in Los Angeles, you have been
like the example of what it means to be a

(14:24):
good person and a nice person and a you know,
a smart person in Hollywood.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
So funny because I'm changing tomorrow. I've decided I've.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
Had it, Henry, Henry, you do have a reputation. I
got to say, I just did another person's podcast today
and I said, I have the honor of interviewing Henry
Winkler later, and they said, you know, it's the rumors
about him being the nicest person in the world are true.
So you have you do have this reputation of being
one of the nicest people in Hollywood.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, but you know what I have to say, I've
thought about that. I mean, I don't don't know that
I'm nice. What I think I am as grateful. I
think I just am so grateful that I get to
do what I do, that I get to have this family,
this life. That is amazing. That's what it is. And

(15:21):
I have gratitude.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Do you have to work on that or I mean,
or it comes naturally to you.

Speaker 4 (15:29):
I know it because it's there. I mean, I thought
about it and then I looked and I thought, oh,
there it is. And it's always been there. You know.
I wrote a memoir.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, tell us the title of it.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
It's called Being Henry. I kept it very simple, and
there's a picture of me so you can't miss it.
And as I have to say that in a few
months it comes out in paperback.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
And everybody, and you mean the audiobook, by any chance,
I did.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
Now I'm so dyslexic that most actors, what do they
take like a day and a half to read a
big talk a book. They allowed me not one hundred hours. Wow,
they gave me one hundred hours.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
So you guys are really go through it and do
it in your voice and everything.

Speaker 4 (16:23):
You're not to go back over it because I left
words out right?

Speaker 2 (16:28):
That's fine? Is that common with most actors? There are
a lot of us out there with dyslexia, Like I
have dyslexia bad too.

Speaker 4 (16:36):
Well. One out of six children on the earth have
some sort of learning challenge. You know. What is so
extraordinary to me is that the the man who is
running for vice president, mister Wallas, has a son who

(16:56):
is learning challenge, who is nonverbal, and people attacked him
for getting so emotional about his dad. Yeah, that's insane.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, that was upsetting. I mean yeah, I saw that too.
That was really horrible. When did you realize you were
a dyslexic? How did how did you figure it out?

Speaker 4 (17:21):
My step son Jed, who came into my life when
he was four in the third grade. He could not
write a report on the Hoping Nation. We took him
to visit the Hope in Arizona because he was studying
Native Americans in school. And he's so verbal, he's so funny,

(17:44):
and I said, well, come on, you go back in
your room and do it. And we finally had him
tested and everything they said about him was true about me.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
So how old were you thirty one?

Speaker 3 (17:58):
Wow?

Speaker 4 (17:59):
So until already one? I thought I was just stupid. Wow.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
And when you were learning scripts, when you were auditioning
back in the seventies, was that extra hard for you
to memorize into into to learn reading.

Speaker 4 (18:17):
Around the table? When you know, when we have our
first reading, the entire crew can hear what is going
to happen that week. I would stumble. I would mess
other actors up with their timing because I never gave
them their cue. Memorizing was easy. So what I couldn't

(18:39):
do reading wise, I could do in memorizing.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yeah, that's interesting. I worked with an actor recently who's dyslexic,
and he said, oh, at the table reads, I have
to be off book I have to memorize it otherwise
I'll mess up all my jokes. And I and and
I get so nervous. So he was memorizing it for
the table read, so he was battling that too.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
I had to.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
I had to. I actually had to tell on the
last project I worked on.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
I had to tell them Listen, I have a really
hard time putting words together when I read them. Uh So,
table reads, you know, either get me the script early
or or I'm gonna I'm gonna mess it up a lot.
I'm gonna mess up a lot. You know, I'm gonna
have to go back. And you know, for the most
part they did. But when it was right away, oof,

(19:26):
it's it's it's it's really it would be really hard.
It's it's embarrassing, but it's also it's like, well, shit,
it's my it's my thing. And you know, some days,
I have days like everybody else. Some days you have
days where it works and you're and you're able to
focus on the on it. But then there's days where
it's like, oh, I'm killing everybody right now and they
think I'm illiterate, and really it's something.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, But then all of a sudden your performance speaks
for itself, right right, you know that you I think
that and you didn't ask me, but I will just
mention it. I think you should just let that go
because it just doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Right.

Speaker 6 (20:05):
We're you know it.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
People have got different problems, and you have overcome yours
in that you are an improvosure. You've got great energy
on the screen, the two of you together, even when
it's not necessarily an entertainment but a commercial. You guys

(20:29):
are connected at the hip. It's funny, it's watchable over
and over and over again. That comes from spirit, and
that's what you have to be grateful for.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yes, thank you for saying it's true.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
It's true, but it means it means a lot coming
from I almost changed my plan.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
You are I wish you would have.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
We'll still take you. We can get your special deal.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
We listen, we can work on this.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Listen. Most people come up to Donald and I and
ask us details about the about the team of the plans,
and we don't know what that. We don't know. We
just say we're in the commercials you know, for you,
but for you, Henry, we'll go figure out what best plan,
what we can do.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
You know. I did a commercial last year for I
Care because my father in law had uh uh geographic atrophy,
and so I did this just saying, go to the
go to the doctor and check your eyes. And Dick
Van Dyke, out of the glue, called me up. He said,

(21:32):
I have this. Do you know any more than I do?
I said, oh my god, I wish I did.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
No, Donald, I've had this thing. I walk around New
York City and people, you know, most people are like,
you know, if they say something you know, they say,
you know, whenever they compliment you for a thing they like.
But occasionally people be like, thhose commercials are so funny
with you and Donald and I go, oh, thank you.
They go, Now tell me, like the monthly is it?

Speaker 2 (21:59):
Really?

Speaker 1 (22:00):
I don't know what the monthly is.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
I honestly don't know what.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Plan is best for you.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
Let's take a break.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
We'll be right back after these fine words, Henry, I
wanted to tell you because you're talking about your book
and your audiobook, which you know, with people like you
who are such wonderful performers and have such distinct voices,
it made me think of one of the best audiobooks

(22:31):
I ever heard of. My Whole life, which is Gary
Marshall's book My Happy Days in Hollywood, which if you
love entertainment and you gotta don't read this book, listen
to it. Because Gary had such for those of you
who don't know what he was, creator of so many
beloved TV shows, including Happy Days, and a director with

(22:53):
an enormous career including Pretty Women and many others. But
Gary had such a charactery voice and him telling his
stories and his voice is wonderful and I and I
just wanted to just segue into that in the Happy
Days via that, because I'll tell you.

Speaker 4 (23:10):
I'll tell you something. I could not wear leather in
the beginning. I had to wear cloth because ABC thought
for sure I was going to be associated with crime.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
In the beginning, you look like you worked at a
like at a mechanic shop and everything like that.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
You always had the was it blue, But the.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Jacket was a McGregor golf jacket, and it was very
hard to be cool in cloth. So Gary went to
ABC and he said, you know, he could be height.
If he's riding his bike, he should fall over, he
could get a scratch. And so ABC said, when he's

(23:57):
with his bike, he can wearther and then there was
no cell phone at that time. He went down to
the lobby of ABC, he said, he called the writer's room.
He said, okay, never write another scene without Phonsie's bike again.

(24:22):
That's how the leather got in there.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
It's amazing. And I'm telling you, if you listened to
this book, there are so many stories like that from
all these shows. And he had he had, he had
happy Days going on on one set, and he had
more co and Mindy going on another stage. He had,
he had h Leverne Shirley, and he's running between all
of them, running all of these massive hits. And he
and his anecdotes are are so telling you.

Speaker 4 (24:47):
When when, uh, when Robin came to audition. Now it's Wednesday.
We start Monday morning at ten o'clock on the sound stage.
That is, at nine o'clock we read ten o'clock. We're
on the sound stage. Nobody wanted to play this alien
from out of Space Wednesday. Now we're shooting on Friday.

(25:10):
Wednesday comes finally a young, very shy, very quiet man
comes with the casting director and you and then this
human being picked up the script. When he opened his mouth,

(25:31):
it was like a volcano went off on stage nineteen
at Paramount, and I knew, get out of his way,
ye know my lines, and don't try to stand toe
to toe with this genius that is now standing in
front of me. Wow.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
And was that Robin Williams first thing? Was that his
first time?

Speaker 2 (25:55):
I think it was.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
Maybe he made appearances before that.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
Joell can look at us, but I think it.

Speaker 4 (26:01):
Might have been his first. He did comedy clubs.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Right now, first TV appearance probably yeah, But oh my lord.
We always like to ask our guests, how did you
get the part?

Speaker 2 (26:12):
What was your explorer?

Speaker 3 (26:13):
How did you get how did you get into the industry?
And then how did you get the part the industry?

Speaker 4 (26:20):
The first thing I did was I was in a
repertory company at my drama school in New Haven, Yale
Repertory Theater. And then I would do a play at
night with the company, and you would rehearse another play
during the day. I made one hundred and seventy five
dollars a week. I was in heaven. Then I went

(26:43):
to New York. I tried out for commercials and then
I made enough money. I had just made Lords of
Flatbush with sly stallone. I made two thousand dollars for
twelve months work, but I had enough money for a
ticket to California for one month. In that month, the

(27:06):
first thing I got was the Mary Tyler Moore show,
which was the Friends of that time. I got a scene.
I had eight lines. And then the next week, my
second week, I auditioned at Paramount. The room of actors
waiting had all been on television. I had seen them

(27:31):
all and me, Oh my goodness, it was my turn.
I walked in and something went off in my brain
and I changed my voice and I did the eight
lines through the script up in the air, saunted out

(27:53):
of the room. And when my money ran out, when
I had to fly back to New York, the producers
called and said, would you like to play this part?

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Oh my god? And I said, okay, what did you
do to your voice? Because what was cool? You had
to you had to figure out, like what's cool or
like universally.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
I didn't.

Speaker 4 (28:13):
I didn't figure anything out. I went from being henry
nervous a short jew two, hey, look don't look at
me like that, and all of a sudden, and then
I threw the script up in the air. I walked
out of that room, and Gary Marshall said, I think

(28:37):
I saw something in this young man, and he gave.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
Me the part I read that you weren't at all
with Gary pictured for the part.

Speaker 4 (28:46):
No, they wanted a tall Italian. They got a very
short jew from New York. And people, you know, I'm
even to this day when I try all around the country,
around the world, people say to me, oh my god,
I thought you were much taller.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, did they shoot you in such a way that,
you know.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Just the energy, the energy was that's the most powerful,
and like we have jokes about it or at at work,
Zach and I, like we had a stand in uh
named Deontay and we called him Black Phonzie because he
just had the gift to gab with the ladies and
he knew how to work the work, the crew and
he knew all of it.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
He knew everything it was like. And we called him
Black Phronsie because he was he just was so cool.

Speaker 6 (29:38):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Ladies loved them, all the ladies, well.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
The ladies loved him. But he also he had to
end with every department. He was my standing.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
He had to end with every department, so every department
knew him. And he knew everyone, and he was just
he was just a cool guy on set, you know
what I mean.

Speaker 4 (29:55):
It was just great.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, man, I make the joke I have a friend
who's h who is very promiscuous, and I say, he's
got to move cities now, because I remember there being
an episode where Phronsie had been with every woman in
Milwaukee and he had to move, didn't he have to?

(30:16):
I just remember so joke about that. So I always
say that my friend, like, he's going to change cities
because he's like Phonsie, he's already dated every girl in
the city. Henry, this show was enormous. I mean, this
show wasn't just on the air nowadays. Obviously it goes
without saying there's so much more content. But what was
life like for you when you were on this show.

(30:38):
I read a Beatle came up to you.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
Beatles came I met every Beatle except for George. I
was walking on the street in New York City with
my wife and coming the other direction was Paul McCartney,
and he went the phones and we stood talking. A

(31:09):
woman came out of a store gave us each a rose.
Another woman came up and said, hey, do you mind
if I just stand here, he said, we're in the
middle of a conversation. No. Then he gave me a
phone number and he said, let's get in touch, and I,
like an asshole, call that number every ten minutes for

(31:34):
twenty four hours as what I a as you should
never answered. So if he is listening, I would just
like to say, I'm a really good guy. Could you
call me back because i'd I'd love to have lunch.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
That's so funny. Well, I just mean it must have
been such your crazy existence, because you know the level
of success that not only the show had, but your character.
I mean, they wanted to change the name of the
show to Fonsi's Happy Days. You broke out on such
a level it must have been.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
But I asked them, I said, look, do me a favor.
If I have any juice whatsoever, Please do not do
that because it would be such a slap in the
face for everybody else. I was part of an ensemble,
the Fawns. Without that family, without those boys, I don't

(32:33):
know where he would be. And it is Happy Days.
If it's not broken, don't fix.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
It, don't fix Was that hard for Ron?

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Howard?

Speaker 1 (32:42):
Do you think like has he ever shared with you that.
Obviously he broke out to but I wonder what was
that difficult for him.

Speaker 4 (32:49):
I think that he was signed on as the star
of the show and we had a drive home in
his VW Origional Little Bug. We drove home from set.
We were doing one of those two part openings, and
I said, okay, Ron, we've got to talk about this,

(33:12):
and he said, look, it hurt my feelings, but you
did not do anything. You didn't have You don't have
an attitude. It's good for the show. You didn't try to,
you know, to outshine anybody. Yeah, so you know it's
the ying and the yang of that. But that was

(33:34):
the only time we ever talked about it. And he
is still my like my brother.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Yeah, Because right after that, you got he directed a movie,
his first directorial debut.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
He made you the star of the movie.

Speaker 4 (33:47):
He came to me and he said, look, Warner Brothers
will fund the movie. They're going to give me six
million dollars. But they asked, would you be in the
movie and you can play either role. And I thought, well,
I was Flambuoyant for ten years. I'm going to play
Richie and so I chose the character of Chuck, and

(34:10):
he was incredibly He was twenty five.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
Were you at the time? He was, No, I was.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
I was. He was eighteen when I met him, and
I was twenty seven, okay, so nineteen twenty twenty one,
twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, thirty three. I was
about ten years older than he was, and he was
twenty five years old. And he said, are they going
to listen to me? The crew has been doing this

(34:40):
longer than I've been alive. I said, Ron, I promise you.
And he has such power as a person that when
he would stop and say, let me think about that,
everybody waited for Ron to tell us what to do.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
You know, I read for him when I was a
kid for Parenthood. I read for the part that went
to Joaquin Phoenix.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
Woh wow.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
And I have this great memory you just reminded me
of And this never happened ever in another audition, he
was so sensitive. I was, I must have been thirteen fourteen,
and I think he knew that having anybody else in
the room would be intimidating. And I didn't know who
he was, or at least the young me didn't put
it all together. Right, you know, he was the guy

(35:31):
from Happy Days whatever. But the point was that he
didn't have anyone else in the room, and he and
I sat next to each other and we just read
the scene, just me and him. There was nobody else
in the room. And I always had such a like
a lovely memory of that going. What a sensitive man
to take all the intimidation out for the young kid.

Speaker 4 (35:48):
And it was very wise. He was, even at eighteen
when I first met him, just an incredibly thoughtful, wise
human being. I was.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
I was, you know, you have goals in life and
everything like that. And one of my goals was to
work with Ron Howard in some way, right, and I
think Felicity. When I got Felicity, that was Imagine Entertainment. Yes,
that's his company, right, yes, yes, And I remember when
I saw that.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
I was like, I did it. I did it?

Speaker 4 (36:25):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
Yeah. My name is Ron Howard's name is right next
to each other. These are goals in life, you know
what I mean.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
My goal is to get back on Broadway.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
Oh you got you should be you can make that
dream and.

Speaker 4 (36:43):
Not so easy, not so easy. I did three plays.
The first one closed in one night, the second one
ran for nine months. The third one closed in seven nights,
So now I need to do it one more time
to make that third one.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
Right, Yeah, I hear you. I've done a bunch of
I've not only on one Broadway show, but off Broadway ones.
And the Broadway thing is so tough because you know,
the critics can literally shut it down. Really when people do,
when people go, how does what is Henry Mina closed
in one night? What happens is if you get trashed

(37:24):
by the critics in New York, they just people aren't
gonna buy tickets, so it's just closes. The New York
Times whatever the New York Times says.

Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah, that in London.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
In London, Henry, I don't if you've ever had that experience,
But there's a little bit more. It's a fun experience
that uh to do a show there. And also it's
a little more spread out in terms of not one
paper controlling your entire fate.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
Yeah. Right. In England, I did what is called pantomime
at Christmas. You put on this play with music and
I did Peter Pan. I played Captain Hook. Yeah, and
I did it in seven cities and it's been going
since seventeen fifty six. Let's say, and this particular form,

(38:11):
and the audience knows to yell at you and to
yell at Peter and go he's behind you. And I
would walk down to the lip of the stage and
I would say, if you warn him one more time,
I'm coming to your house and taking all your presents.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
I would love to see you on stage, Henry.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
So I hope you do that.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
We can tell us about segueing into directing, because that's
what you did, and it's something I can relate to
myself that I've been doing a lot of. And did
you do you feel that you've been educated on doing
I mean, obviously, obviously sitcom directing is a unique style,
but was that an education for you?

Speaker 4 (38:59):
It was? And not only that. Everything I learned about
being a professional on the set, in front or behind
the camera, I learned from Gary Marshall and from Jerry
rest Is Soul Paris. Jerry Paris directed I don't know
two hundred and forty episodes of Happy Days. He was unbelievable.

(39:22):
He was also the dentist on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
He was the next door neighbor, brilliant man. So this
is the way I see my directing career years ago.
You would get a lawnmower and you would pull it

(39:43):
in order to start it. You would pull the cord
and it would just about turnover who I was that lawnmower.
My directing career never really turned over. I directed commercials.
I directed half an hour.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
Yeah. Donald told a story about you directing him and clueless,
and you were kind to him even though he was
tardy one day.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
I was so tardy. It was the first day you
were there and I was so tardy.

Speaker 4 (40:18):
That was the beginning of my directing. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, Well you put me in my first of all,
you put me in my place one. But you did
it in such a good way that you know to
this day, you know. I mean, dude, you've just done
like there have been a lot of things for me
that you've done when I didn't have friends.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
You introduced me to your daughter, you know what I mean. Like,
there's so many things that's just great about you. Henry.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
You are an amazing person, and I think you're an
amazing director also, And I.

Speaker 4 (40:49):
You're the only one.

Speaker 6 (40:51):
No, I'm not, No, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (40:53):
I'm sure every actor that you've ever worked with is
like you. No, he's a fucking amazing director. Uh listen,
I hope you get another the chance to direct as
well too. Then if that's the case, because you listen, man,
nobody to this day, nobody has been.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Able to get through them to me the way you've
been able to get through to me.

Speaker 4 (41:12):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
And and it was on a show that you know
was it was a kids show, but it was an
adult show. But you came in and you gave it
such life. And you're directing Tim Conway at the same time,
as as as as all I did.

Speaker 4 (41:27):
With Tim Conway was point the camera in the right direction.
I mean, you know when you watch on either YouTube
or TikTok when they come up with those Harvey Korman Ye,
Tim Conway bits. I wish that I had half that
imagination when Tim Conway was the dentist. Yes, and he

(41:52):
kept on injecting himself from Milva game.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
And you haven't seen this, audience. You have to just
Tim Conway. You have to see the sketch from the
cawber Neet Show.

Speaker 4 (42:02):
But it really is no joke. It is one of
the funniest things ever done anywhere.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
Now I have to ask him, this is a bit
of a segue off Donald mentioning your children. I know
both of your children too, and they love you so much.
What is your secret to parenthooding? I mean, I've spoken,
I know Max a bit, and he just speaks about
you so lovingly. And you have any tips for parents

(42:29):
out there? How do you get your kids to love
you as much as you do?

Speaker 4 (42:32):
Here is my overall tip. A heard child is a
powerful child. I grew up with two Germans who did
not see me. They didn't know why I wanted to
do what I do. They didn't care about what I

(42:54):
wanted to do. I did not have an opinion, and
I swore to my wife that I would be a
different parent. And when when your child comes three, they're
three years old, four years old, you're late, you can't
find your keys, you're going to a meeting. You go,
oh my god, I got dad, I Dad, and you

(43:18):
just stand there. I like green. Okay, I'm so glad
you said that, because we're going to discuss every shade
of green when I come back. I'm telling you it
took thirty seconds, forty five seconds. You know later you're
not more on time, and that child goes We're gonna

(43:41):
we're gonna talk about green. I'm telling you that is
the great umbrella. And then you know, see, if your
child has a problem, you don't know what it is,
you don't know the name, but you know there's something

(44:02):
going on, respect the problem and look for making that
child more comfortable. Chuse the child knows they've got a problem.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
M Well, that's really that's really good advice. It's funny.
I know Max from your son because we both were
working out of the same office once and and he
was just the way he you know, I told him
how much I was a fan of yours and the
way he beams when he talks about you, and he's
a wonderful filmmaker himself, and I just it was just

(44:39):
so sweet that and I thought to myself, what I
wanted to just bring it up to you, because you know,
so many people have issues with their parents, and they
may love their parents, but their parents drive them crazy.
And I was just it was just notable to me
how how how enamored and in love and crazy about
you he was.

Speaker 4 (44:55):
Well, I've got I've got three incredible children. My step
son came into my life when he was four, Zoe
and Max came along after that. Zoe just had an
event here in our front lawn for her charity called
this Is About Humanity. She was thirty seven sitting on

(45:17):
her couch watching children being separated from their parents. Said,
oh my goodness, those could be my children. With two
of the ladies started this organization. They've raised over two
million dollars with no overhead. Max said to me at
ten and sos Stacey, I'm going to be a director.

(45:39):
I took him to see Bottle Rocket by Wes Anderson.
I said, I'm going to do that. He just hired
me this past January. He's doing the American Horror Stories
and on the set he was the executive producer direct.

(46:01):
On the set, I asked for a cup of coffee
and the crew brought me a paper cup of coffee
and on it wrote Daddy Winkler, Oh my heart out of.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
My body kewlling Kwelling as we said, not so sweet.
And he's really doing well. He's got a lot of
great projects and I'm so happy for him.

Speaker 4 (46:26):
Let me just say he directed. I haven't met him,
but he directed hoavi Ar bard Dem and then Hoaviar
bard Dem just invited he and his wife to dinner.
I said, could I drive? Could I just the limo driver?
I'll wear a hat and everything.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
That's funny.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Let's take a break.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
We'll be right back after these fine words. All right,
because we have you for a limited time, we're going
to jump to arrested development. Yes I want to Yeah,
you go ahead.

Speaker 2 (47:06):
You can say what you want to do you okay,
all right, but just let me just say one thing.

Speaker 3 (47:14):
In between arrested development and the directing and uh, what
were you were raising family? You were you were being
a dad at home for that time. What made you
all of a sudden say you know what? Because when
we had you on Clueless, you didn't want to do
You didn't want to act on the show at all.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
You were like no, no, no.

Speaker 3 (47:35):
Even though they convinced you towards the end, like you're
in like a in the credits, you didn't want to
act in the show.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
What convinced you to get back into acting again?

Speaker 4 (47:43):
Somebody asked, really, I'm that Sandler.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
You did a bunch of Sandler movies.

Speaker 4 (47:48):
I did a Sandler movie. It was hard for me
to get an acting job. That's how I started writing
children's books. We just wrote our fortieth Oh my god,
children's books that fade out in October Detectives Duck of
volume two.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
You write those?

Speaker 2 (48:10):
You write it with Lynn.

Speaker 4 (48:11):
Oliver, with my partner Lynn. We've written every book together
and it's amazing. I am. I thought I was stupid.
I can't read, And with Lynn I have written forty
children's Now, Wow.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
That's amazing. That is amazing.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
No, so oh gosh, I can interview you forever. But
my question is because Donald and I have faced this.
You know, we were on a popular show. Yeah, we're
neither one of us on the level of being Phonsie,
but but we definitely got known for being a type
you bet, which is don't get me wrong. The first
thought is, of course, we are so lucky, we are
so grateful, but you it is hard to I'm still

(48:51):
working on branching. I'm doing a tiny yarc on this
show called Bad Monkey, where I'm actually doing something one
hundred and eighty degrees from JD and people are based
on Yeah, and it's so refreshing to get that opportunity.
And so I know I can imagine what you felt
because you were on lunchboxes. I mean, you were so
known as that guy do you.

Speaker 4 (49:13):
Know Actually, when I had an office at Paramount, and
I sat in my office at my desk, and I
literally had psychic pain because I had no plan. B.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
I had just.

Speaker 4 (49:33):
Lived my imagination. Yeah, and now I can't get hired.
I had no idea what to do. And I realized
it is a great life lesson when you don't know
what to do. Just sit for a minute and let
it percolate, and all of a sudden it will come.

(49:57):
My lawyer, Skip Brittenham the Third said I know what
you're going to do. You're going to produce. I said,
I can't produce.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
I know nothing.

Speaker 4 (50:05):
He said, you'll learn. And the first show that I
heard all these ideas, I said, oh I like that idea.
I want to see that idea. The first show I
ever produced with a man named John Rich who's no
longer with us, was mcgiver.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Oh my god, I forgot you produced mcguiver. Wow. Yeah,
that was a big hit.

Speaker 4 (50:29):
It was a huge hit.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
It was such it's such a big hit that they
remade it.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
He made it as a comedy, but.

Speaker 3 (50:37):
No, they remade mcgiver as a television show too. Television show.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
On Saturnight Live with macgoover right right.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
Yeah, I'm thinking you're right, I'm thinking mcgoober. But wow, wait,
sowet Sorry, Henry. The first thing you produced was mcgiver.

Speaker 4 (50:55):
Yes, that was the first show. The second show was
the next hit that I was able to produce with
Anne Daniel was Sightings because I love the paranormal. I
just love that whole. I really think there's got to
be a whole other level that we're not privy to. Yeah,

(51:20):
but I agree with you, yeah, yeah, absolutely, But.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
Do you say okay? So God, I'm sorry I cut you.

Speaker 4 (51:26):
No, no, no. The second show was an amazingly funny
half hour comedy called Mister Sunshine, starring Jeff Tambour as
a blind English professor, and it was I mean, I
cannot even begin to tell you the writers that we got.

(51:49):
But that only lasted thirteen.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
Episodes, so you never know, Yeah, you never know, You
never know. I mean, I I Donald and I have
both been on ten episode shows.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
I've been on, Yeah, I've been on I've been on
an episode. Listen, I've been on the shows that only
lasted thirteen episodes.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
And that was it.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Yeah, well mine, I think I beat you, Alex, think
only went ten.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
No, you did more than that. You guys did like twelve.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
No, we did ten, I think, but it was fun
more lasted.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
I will say this, thank goodness that Hollywood at least
lets the thirteen still air because I remember, or you.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
Get paid for the thirteen? Ouse I remember, you get canceled.
That's a rat.

Speaker 4 (52:30):
Oh, Donald, I was. I did a show that I
turned down twice and it was written by Mark somebody Mark,
it'll come to me. He was in Gary Goldberg's camp,
you know, family ties, and he came to me with

(52:53):
this idea of a Rush Limbaugh with a gay daughter.
But it was in the eighties, and I said, no,
it's too controversial, but it is so funny. I've got
to say yes. And we sold it to NBC. Somebody
an NBC must have looked at it after it was

(53:14):
bought and said, not on my network. Now we're back
in the world. We sell it to Fox. They don't
want the gay daughter. So now it is David Schwimmer,
who is my son, who goes to college to be
a lawyer, comes back. He wants to be a chef.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
Has nothing to do with the original, have nothing to
do with the gay or anything.

Speaker 4 (53:38):
This is the life lesson when you're doing something and
it gets bastardized to where you don't recognize it anymore.
Go home.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
Yeah, I got used reminding me the funniest story from
the movie The TV Set. Have you ever seen that? No, Well, listeners,
and Henry, I want you to see this when we
call the TV Set. It's about the making of a pilot.
And it's so funny Henry because there's so many inside
jokes you'll you'll laugh at him. And David d'coveney plays

(54:09):
I think he's the showrunner of the of the of
the the creator of the show. And Sigourney Weaver plays
the studio head and she says, look, we want to
do the show, but we want to get rid of
the the suicide in the in the pilot, and David
du coveny says, the suicide is the whole reason I
wrote the show. The suicide is is the was the

(54:30):
raison deetra for for the whole pilot, and it's the
It's the whole reason that I'm sitting here in front
of you when the show is getting made is because
that started me. Because of this and and and I
wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the suicide. And
there's a long pause and Sigourney Weaver goes, but what
if it wasn't? And to me, as somebody's in this industry,

(54:56):
it like summed up everything about the struggle of getting
stuff made.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
Oh my god, it's so true. I was offered a
show very funny, and I lost my wife, my daughter,
her mother, and the network said, it's so funny, we
really want to do it, but our audience doesn't like grief.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
Wait what our audience does not do well with grief?

Speaker 2 (55:30):
Yeah, that's all that's on television right now. Wait.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
Wait, I don't understand what analytics. What analytics are they're
looking at at the time, I.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
Don't know had another funny Well, I don't know. I've
just been doing pilots and stuff. You see the dial
testing and everything. It's so it's such a trippy, weird thing.
But wait, I want to leave time to talk. We
got to leave time to talk about two more mega hits.
So you basically got a cameo on Arrested Development and
then did ended up doing thirty two episodes. I mean,

(56:02):
did they how did they?

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Did?

Speaker 1 (56:03):
They just love the character and love what you were
doing so much.

Speaker 4 (56:06):
That is exactly right. I just did what my instinct
told me to do, and Mitch Hurwitz kept writing me
and he is I have literally worked with such brilliant
human beings.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
Yeah, you really have some of the greatest.

Speaker 4 (56:25):
Am greatest handler. Yeah, Mitch Hurwitz, John Shure, uh, and
then Bill Hater and Alec.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Burg, Alec Berg. Yeah, yeah, you've really worked with You
really have worked with some of the most legendary showrunners
of all time.

Speaker 4 (56:43):
And then let's not forget Children's Hospital with that whole bunch.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
In the same set of scrubs.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
You guys, Oh my god, when what was your was arrested,
you know, I did a cameo, I did a little
thing on arrested, and I had so much fun. It
felt like there was a lot of room for you
guys to play around, right. It was that the environment
that you could do.

Speaker 4 (57:06):
Some know what in structure comes freedom and you could
play around. But when they heard that you were going
too far adrift, they would put you right back.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
I had a thing where I was riffing with David
Cross because we were both never nudes and we were
both standing there in tattered jean shorts. Short shorts and
David Cross. I just he was riffing the most insane,
hilarious stuffs, none of which ended up in the show,
by the way, I mean a tiny fraction of but
I remember laughing so hard at this insane stuff he

(57:42):
was saying, which I would have loved if it was
in the show. But I'm sure Mitch was like, all right,
let's trim all that back.

Speaker 4 (57:48):
Yeah. No, Mitch was very very clear about his vision,
and I mean that is the beginning and the end
of a great showrunner. Yes, when they've got the vision
and in that structure, you get to be free.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Yeah. Well, we've had that with Bill Lawrence. And I
have to tell you, I'm I'm directing Shrinking now.

Speaker 4 (58:10):
And Mark Lawrence. Thank you Mark Lawrence versus the man
who created the show. I did Monty about Rush Limbaugh
and his gay daughter.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Oh got it. I just wanted to say that we
had that with Bill as actors. And it's funny when
I'm directing. I just directed Shrinking and I'm turning in
my cut and I'm sitting there with Bill and you
know it's his baby. You know, I'm I'm I'm directing it.
But we have this little battle sometimes over over what's
going to end up in the show and what's not

(58:43):
going to end up in the show. But you're right.
The brilliance of a great show runner is is someone
like a Mitch Herwitz or or a Bill Lawrence or
a Gary Marshall, who goes, I hear you, I see
what your contribution was. I I love it, but it's
here's my vision, and here's what it's going to be.
Because for me, I would let for example, I would
let my episode go long. Bill has a very clear vision.

(59:07):
He does not like half hour comedies that go too long.
So he's cutting things that I'm going, why are you
cutting that? It's it's funny, it's nice. He's like, it's
too long. Shows too long. And that's just a little
minuscule example of like that. This is his baby, this
is his vision. This is why he's brilliant at what
he does.

Speaker 4 (59:24):
You know. Yeah, but you know what everybody else benefits
from somebody having a real point of view. Yes, everybody,
every member of the cast, the crew, the writer's everybody.
It is essential. Yeah, you know, because I listen, I

(59:44):
think I am so funny, I am so great. Oh
my god, I just improvised, and then you realize, maybe
I should just go back to the script and shut up.

Speaker 2 (59:55):
Yeah, I hear you, Yeah that Yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:58):
When that's when you real that, when you realize you've
gone too far, it's it's it's a little embarrassing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
And sometimes you're laughing. Sometimes sometimes you're just cracking up
because it's new, and you know what, and you realize, like, hey,
we laughed hard at the table, read it that joke,
and now we're all just used to it, so it's
not new, and now we think we're hilarious because we've
improvised five other things. But you know what, really the
best joke is the one that they wrote.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
The one that started with but weally said, so much
time just now fucking around, guys, let's just go back
to what was there.

Speaker 4 (01:00:31):
But Donald, I have to say, I'm gonna I can't
let what you just said go. Okay, you can't be embarrassed.
And I'll tell you why. If you don't try, if
you don't put it out there, you'll never know. Yeah,
it might be amazing, but you can't know that unless

(01:00:54):
you try it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
It doesn't work.

Speaker 6 (01:00:55):
Hey, you go on.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
I think that's the best advice for actors that are listening, Like,
the biggest thing of acting is getting back to when
you were a kid and didn't have this embarrassment voice
in your head. It's getting back to being a little
kid who's silly and crazy and doesn't have that filter
because they don't want to be judged. I mean, that's
that's the best thing an acting class can give you.

Speaker 4 (01:01:18):
I'm telling you you cannot be embarrassed. There's no room
for it, and there's no purpose for it. You've got
to try your imagination and then if it doesn't work,
I tried.

Speaker 1 (01:01:32):
This is the perfect segue. Because I'm such a good
podcast host doing.

Speaker 3 (01:01:37):
Pretty well today, I'm not gonna lie the conversation between
you two.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
Watch this one, Donald, watch this segue. You sound very
much to me right now, Henry like an acting teacher,
Which brings me to one of the finest uh pieces
of television I think in at least the last two decades,
Barry h you are so phenomenal on the show. You've

(01:02:01):
got an I mean sitting behind you for it.

Speaker 4 (01:02:04):
Thank you?

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
How did that come about? How did you get it?
How did you become part of this universe?

Speaker 4 (01:02:09):
Three things? I got a call that Bill Hayter and
HBO would like to meet you. I thought, oh my goodness,
I'd never worked for HBO and I watched Bill Hayter
every Saturday night on Saturday Night Live. This is amazing.
They said, you're on a short list. I said, is

(01:02:30):
Dustin Hoffman on that list? Because if he is, I'm
not going in. They said no, they sent me the script.
Max was here. I gave him the script. He's now
directing me from my audition.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Amazing. I go in.

Speaker 4 (01:02:52):
Things go, I meet Bill, I meet Alec. They asked
me to be in it, and I'm telling you it
was all I did was try and fill the vision
of those two guys, and it was, oh my, what
a journey. And I have to tell you I love

(01:03:16):
teaching and I only do it once a year. At
the Vulture Festival, which will be in November. They hold
a Vulture right here in La the Vulture Festival, and
I go and I hold an acting class and people come.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
They know, they do know what I'm saying. It's funny
that you know. Obviously you're playing such a such a character,
and I loved you on the show. But there's there's
moments where I as I get talked to you where
I see your personality and especially when you when you're
giving life advice come out of it. Did they know
anything about you when they created this character or did
It's probably, like I'm guessing with Donald and I were.

(01:03:56):
It's almost like Bill began to morph and shape the
character around.

Speaker 4 (01:03:59):
I think that's true. They morphed and shaped the character.
I was supposed to be just a hard ass asshole,
and they went, oh, yeah, he could be, you know,
like a human a little bit. Yeah, And so yes,
they they had a vision and in that vision they

(01:04:22):
wrote to me, yeah, and then let me tell you
toward the end, it got so dark on this comedy
that I had to buy a miner's hat with a
lamp so I could see where we were going.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
It was so brilliant. If you haven't watched Barry, please
watch Barry, especially if you're a Scrubs fan. I really
think that you'll like it. I think Bill Hayter did
something I love so much, which is and I think
that we aspired to do on Scrubs, which was take
the take, single camera comedy, directing to a to a

(01:04:58):
higher level. And man, did he raise the bar on
on on direction of a half hour comedy.

Speaker 4 (01:05:06):
But I'll tell you something again. You know you can't
throw the word around, but there is brilliance in that
young man.

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
Yeah that is Oh, it's it's so clear. Is so clear? Man? Yeah?
That that that that I'm gonna say.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
Bill Hayter is a very very just character work. All
of that stuff. He's just very unique man.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
And then the fact that he can turn shows like
that are kind of dramatic to me. But when you
can turn a drama into a drama y and start
winning comedy.

Speaker 3 (01:05:41):
Awards, I think you really really you know, you're touching
something like that's hard to do. Leaning into the joke
is easy freaking telling a joke and people getting it
in the style that you're trying to tell it. Also,
telling a joke in a different style is like to
be I don't know, man, I could be loud and

(01:06:01):
get laughs.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
It's kind of hard for me to be soft and
quiet and be like this and talk natural and and
and get a laugh.

Speaker 3 (01:06:09):
There's it's just there's so many there's so many levels
to it. And this was one of those shows where
ye what.

Speaker 4 (01:06:15):
It is Donald, you have you trust, you see the
person in front of you, you see the two people
in front of you, and then you just trust and
you give yourself over to the process. Halfway through the
fourth year, because there are only four seasons, Bill said, hey,

(01:06:36):
I want to know how it ends, and I'm not
going to tell you because there might be somebody in
your audience who hasn't do it. But I went in
the corner and shook for a while.

Speaker 1 (01:06:48):
All I mean I had to tell you just from
your performance was just magical. The leading lady, Sarah Goldberg
has there's a few times where he does she does
a monologue as a woner that ever cuts off of
her face. I think Bill did it a few times
and it's just unbelievable her performance and just really really

(01:07:09):
just an incredible, incredible.

Speaker 4 (01:07:11):
Yeah, she's on industry now that show industry.

Speaker 1 (01:07:14):
Yeah, I want to check that out.

Speaker 4 (01:07:16):
Caring about that is a hard show.

Speaker 1 (01:07:18):
I want to check that out.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
Let's just end on. Uh you post pictures of your fishing?
Are you're an avid? You're an avid fisherman?

Speaker 4 (01:07:26):
Uh? I love it more than I continue.

Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
Really, which style do you do?

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
We do well?

Speaker 4 (01:07:32):
I've done a lot deep sea fishing. I vomit. Bass
fishing is you catch it, you wheel it in. Trout
fishing is like zen. It's like a washing machine for
your brain. You have to be in tune with the fish.
You cannot worry about one other thing that is happening

(01:07:57):
to you in the world. And my wife is a
great fisher person. I don't show pictures of my wife's fish.
Christ there usually bigger.

Speaker 1 (01:08:07):
How did you learn? How did you get into it?

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
Skip Brittenham the Third took me and Stacy down the
Smith River in Montana with an outfit where you float
all day, you sleep out under the stars, and for
five days you fish.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:08:31):
And I didn't catch much, but no pun intended. I
was hooked. And so since the middle eighties, Stacy and
I have gone every year to fly fish for trout. Yeah. You.

Speaker 3 (01:08:46):
Sam Jenkins talked a lot about fly fishing. He really
enjoyed fly fishing. He really enjoys fly fishing. Oh, oh
my god, he might talk about it.

Speaker 4 (01:08:54):
Jimmy Kimmel is a big fisherman. Michael Keaton is a
big fisherman.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
And this is fly fishing.

Speaker 4 (01:09:01):
This is fly fishing exclusively.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
I only know it from the movie A River runs
through it.

Speaker 4 (01:09:07):
You are in that place, You are hearing that water,
you are catching those fish. You take a picture, you
put it back, you catch him next year.

Speaker 2 (01:09:18):
Oh that's so sweet, and you could also feel like
your Brad Pitt.

Speaker 4 (01:09:22):
Yeah yeah, yeah, well you know from the face down.

Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Well, Henry, we want to thank you so much.

Speaker 6 (01:09:30):
There must be.

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
There must be men on this planet that are just
so ugly they don't leave home. Because Brad got all
the good looking.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
He's just so handsome man. We got to meet him.

Speaker 1 (01:09:48):
I got lost in his eyes recently.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
And I found myself when we're leaving, like, have a hug.

Speaker 4 (01:09:53):
I mean I did with Brad. I'm so sorry to
interrupt you, but we're I had an award show. There's
Brad Pitt in this long flowing cashmere coat and I
said to him everything that is it, don't move. I
just have to get my wife. And I got my
wife and took a picture of those two together.

Speaker 1 (01:10:16):
It's funny. We were walking. Donald and I were walking
at F one in Vegas, and I told him we're
going to meet Brad Pitt. Act cool, and he goes,
how much take a selfie? I go, don't take a selfie.
He goes, I can't take a selfie.

Speaker 4 (01:10:29):
I go do not.

Speaker 1 (01:10:30):
We're supposed to act cool. We're supposed to act like
we always hang out with David Fincher and Brad Pitt. Anyway, Henry,
thank you so much for coming on. We really do
appreciate it. Wow, I really I want him to be

(01:10:50):
my father. I kept thinking of my dad and that
was my dad the whole time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:54):
Wow, he's a great man. What a man.

Speaker 1 (01:10:58):
My dad was increble man. But didn't didn't didn't he
wasn't He like the father that you want in your life.
I mean, he's the most Look I.

Speaker 2 (01:11:04):
Kept telling y'all in the beginning. He's like a mentor
to me.

Speaker 3 (01:11:06):
And I don't think he knows it everything I said
with every insecurity, I had everything.

Speaker 2 (01:11:13):
Donald, hold up, let's go back.

Speaker 1 (01:11:14):
Yeah, yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:11:17):
Let's let's address this. I love him, you know what
I mean, Like, he's just such a great person.

Speaker 3 (01:11:22):
He's just he's one of those people that you know
and and and you know, we don't know what what
what dwells deep dark in his heart, but there's got
to be so much love.

Speaker 1 (01:11:33):
But he seems to have it all, you know, he
seems to have it all because he's and when I
say have it all, I don't mean the career success,
although he's had that. I just mean he seems so
fulfilled in his life with his family and with his
fishing and his children's books. He just seems like like
he seems what I aspire to be, which is like

(01:11:55):
present and joyful and yeah, your career will have highs
and lows and and things will happen. But he's got
the love of this family and him he and his
wife go fishing together. I mean, it just seems like
the dreamiest person.

Speaker 2 (01:12:07):
Yeah. Man, it seems like he's living the dream. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:12:11):
But he also said something that was really important though.
It's because he's grateful.

Speaker 1 (01:12:15):
Yep. That's when he started the whole gracious. Yeah, we
need to work on that, you and me.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
Oh my goodness, gracious do we try.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
I do it every night I go to bed. I
I do have the ritual of saying that. I learned
saying one, am I grateful for that happened today. I've
been doing. I've been doing okay at that. It's just
that when bad, when annoying things happen, or things that
are frustrating, or I get depressed about something, I I
He's right. It's the best thing to do is switch

(01:12:43):
to gratitude and switch to how lucky we are.

Speaker 2 (01:12:46):
Because we forget, because we forget.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
And that's everybody, everybody listening, we all, we all. I'm
sure everybody listening can relate that we have so much
to be grateful for. And I'm grateful for you. Joelle
and DJ Daniel.

Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
He called Joel, Joel and Daniel DJ all right, DJ
DJ Joel.

Speaker 1 (01:13:09):
The audience I'm not watching on YouTube didn't see that.
He did that whole interview with a ball or Emmy
sitting right beside him for Barry.

Speaker 2 (01:13:16):
That's how you do it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:17):
Yeah. By the way, if I ever win an Emmy,
it's gonna go right in the grammy.

Speaker 2 (01:13:21):
Why don't you freaking put the grammy.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
Up so the grammy doesn't feel Does he feel?

Speaker 4 (01:13:26):
What? Well?

Speaker 1 (01:13:27):
Doesn't feel relevant?

Speaker 2 (01:13:28):
What fucker? You got part of the ego?

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
I did get the one, you got the you got
the I got the girl, you.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
Got the.

Speaker 6 (01:13:42):
Stories. I'm not so we made about a bunch of
dogs and nurses, he said, he's the stories.

Speaker 4 (01:13:56):
So gather.

Speaker 6 (01:13:58):
Yead air hops. But we watch always acted

Speaker 4 (01:14:04):
M h