‘Barry’ Star Henry Winkler Dissects the Surprising Appeal of Gene Cousineau

TheWrap Magazine: “I think [the audience] sees the asshole inside of themselves that they’re trying desperately not to be,” he said.

Henry Winkler in "Barry"
Henry Winkler in "Barry"

A version of this story about Henry Winkler and ‘Barry’ first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

It’s difficult to stay relevant in a landscape that shifts as quickly as television. Popularity wanes, teen heartthrobs age, Quibi happened and still the world turns. But if it’s hard to stay relevant, it’s nigh impossible to imagine a person remaining not just significant but hot. So hot, in fact, that he was the epitome of cool.

Henry Winkler scored his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1976 for his iconic turn as “The Fonz” on Garry Marshall’s “Happy Days,” and more than 45 years later the gregarious actor is still garnering accolades for his work on “Barry.” He’s been nominated for each of the series’ three seasons and took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018.

As Gene Cousineau, the narcissistic acting coach-turned father-figure to Bill Hader’s titular hitman, Winkler has revealed a side of the actor that the audience had never seen before: the asshole. “When we had our first reading [before Season 1], I, of course, am always nervous,” Winkler said. “We were reading for all the executives at HBO. At one point, I called Sarah Goldberg’s character an asshole and I slapped the table. The executive at HBO jumped. And later, Bill told me the man said, ‘I never knew that was inside him.’”

Curiously enough, it’s Gene’s status as an unflinching jerk that seems to endear him to the audience, one possible way that Winkler’s effortless likability furthers the emotional effect of the character’s journey. “I think [the audience] sees the asshole inside of themselves that they’re trying desperately not to be,” he said. “The frailty of wanting to be something other than what you present to the world.”

And yet, Winkler has always been very clear as to what he wanted for his own life and feels so blessed to have had such a lengthy career to allow for it to happen. “I had a dream when I was 7,” he said. “I was lying in my bed in New York City on the west side, dreaming about being able to sustain a life doing what I dreamt of doing. And that I’m able to do it so that I put a roof over our heads, that my children were educated, my grandchildren have birthday gifts. I don’t even know what to say.”

And the fact that he’s able to live his dreams is only made sweeter by the success of the company he keeps. Winkler was overjoyed for the nominations that castmates Hader and Anthony Carrigan earned, but was also thrilled for one “Ted Lasso” honoree in particular. “When I did Hank Zipzer for the BBC, the television series based on my books, Nick Mohammed was the principal of the school,” Winkler said. “It was just so exciting to see him there.”

Read more from the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue here.

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