Henry Winkler Regrets Turning Down The Role of Danny Zuko in GREASE
Thanks to the classic TV series Happy Days, Henry Winkler became a household name by playing Arthur Fonzarelli a.k.a. The Fonz. He’s one of the most beloved TV show characters ever and he had the chance to play another iconic movie character at one point in his career.
Winkler was offered the lead role of Danny Zuko in the 1978 movie Grease, but he turned it down! John Travolta ended up being cast and the rest is history. Winkler now regrets turning down the movie role, but at the time, he made that choice because he was afraid of being typecast as Fonzie. He didn’t want to be known for playing only one kind of role.
Now, while he made an effort to not be typecast by turning down roles similar to the Fonz, he revealed in an interview with CNN's Chris Wallace that his typecasting happened regardless. He referred to himself as a “damn fool” for turning down the role, and added:
"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."
At the time that Winkler got the initial offer to star in Grease, he was hoping for a role that would have the same cultural impact that he had with Happy Days, but in the end, he just felt that the character of The Fonz and Zuko were too similar. He said:
"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."
Winkler went on to play the Fonz for eleven seasons of Happy Days and Travolta went on to be a huge Hollywood leading man. It would have been interesting to see what Winkler’s career would have been like had he taken the role in Grease, and would have Travolta ever become the big star that he became? Ya gotta love thinking about the “what if” moments in life.