For the fourth year in a row, Henry Winkler brought his acting expertise to Vulture Festival for The Winkler Method: A Henry Winkler Acting Class. But before he doled out advice to the actors, the Emmy-winner spoke to Vulture critic Jen Chaney about his newly released memoir Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond, and why he wouldn’t have been able to tackle his Barry role if it weren’t for therapy.
“I could not have done Barry, I could not have done Gene Cousineau with that texture, I believe, without opening myself in that particular therapy,†Winkler said of beginning his therapy journey just before Barry came his way. But it wasn’t his first attempt. “I did go once before, but the man asked me to read a script,†he recalled. Conversely, he says he’s indebted to his current therapist, who thankfully doesn’t seem to be an aspiring screenwriter. “But therapy, when you know yourself, you know everyone,†he continued. “We are all the same. You know every character that is well written.â€
“I am not an acting teacher, I only play one,†Winkler warned before offering up advice, but his teaching skills proved far better than those of Gene Cousineau. During the class, he told the performers, who delivered monologues ranging from BoJack Horseman to The Morning Show, “I just want you to taste something that you didn’t think of, or that you didn’t feel when you were working on this at home. That is my reason to be here.†But of all the notes he gave out to actors, his highest praise was for audience-member Sharon Stone, who Winkler recently watched in Casino on a plane. “You broke my heart,†he gushed. “Oh my god, your journey in that movie, your ability in that movie, the pain in that movie was so dynamic. This little screen on the seat in front of me filled with germs? You jumped out of it, into my body.â€