Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald - Henry Winkler, Let it Percolate

Episode Date: October 1, 2024

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.

Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw and this is Kamila Luddington and we have a new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. Big or small, we're there. And now here we are opening up the friendship circle to you. Listen to Call It What It Is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017 was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a Mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad free, subscribe to the iHeartTrueCrime Plus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. do. What was that? That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. Can Kay trust her sister or is history repeating itself? There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeart Radio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm N.K, and this is Basket Case. What is wrong with me? A show about the ways that mental illness is shaped by not just biology.

Swaps of different meds. But by culture and society. By looking closely at the conditions that cause mental distress, I find out why so many of us are struggling to feel sane, what we can do about it, and why we should care. Ooh, look at you giving me therapy should care. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you stream podcasts. How are you Donald Faison? You know, I'm going to be honest with you. Yes, we don't want you to lie.

No one wants lies. I'm good. I'm living the dream. I've got a lot of hardware in my house and I kind of like it. What's the hardware? Oh, it's animation gear. I got a shit ton of animation gear. Like I got a lot of stuff.

First of all, shout out to the people at Leica, Leica 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 puppeteers, 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. 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 jet pack that you put on the back of puppets that helps with subtle movements. And this is because of the people at Leica and the people at, um, stupid buddy studios. Wow. So you have a real like, so the motion control camera rig is going to allow you the, you to move the camera and crane up and down as you're animating.

Correct. going to allow you to move the camera and crane up and down as you're animating? Correct. What happens is I program it to do what I want it to do before I film. It's a lot of blocking obviously. Yeah. But then with animating, instead of having to worry about with the camera and the focus and all of that, cause that's already preset now,

I can now just focus on the animating and the story I wanna tell in the art form that I've chosen. Wow, that's amazing, dude. It's like you're an artist who got a very fancy new instrument. Let's say you're a guitarist and you got a very, very fancy new guitar. You know what it reminds me of?

Go ahead. The day you got a very, very fancy new guitar. You know what it reminds me of? Go ahead. The day you got your first movie camera where you were like, I can fricking make a movie on my own right now. I know. And I took a lot of pride too. In a good person, there were shots from my red Komodo that were in the movie.

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 red Komodo, which is a beautiful camera. Those are some great shots too.

They are, they open the movie. When you really think about it, like, yeah, you know what I mean? It opens the movie. It opens the movie. Yeah. Donald. That's amazing.

I'm going to Europe to visit our friend Josh Raiden. I like this. These are the things that I don't like. But you're not coming. Well, you can't, you never want to do stuff. I've got kids. Yeah, you do have kids. We understand that. Well, Josh Raiden and I don't have kids, so we're going to hang out together in Europe. Where in Europe? Well, first I'm going to- Where can the people find you if they're looking? 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 then we're gonna work our way through. We're gonna go to Paris. And then there's a dot, dot, dot about what we do next. But we have some time to play. Go to London. I may, I've been in London the most of all.

So I'm trying to get outside of my box. Okay. I got this new, do you see this G-Shock watch I got? You G'd up. Isn't that cool? Is that from G-Shock? Did G-Shock sponsor us? No, I wish they did.

I have some fancy watches and people told me don't wear fancy watches traveling cause you'll get your arm cut off. So- Wait, what? Well, you know, if you have a fancy nice watch, you're sort of a target for being robbed, obviously. So you think they're gonna rob you

just because you're Zach Braff? 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 wanna keep my hands. Got it. 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 be because look how cool this thing is. It's pretty nice. That's pretty nice. G shock watch. You got damn. What's going on?

Joel, how are you? Living, man. I'm great. Yeah. I'm a good ass. I'm sorry. Living. I'm sorry.

Took a breath to say it and everything. Exhale, Joelle. Living, man. Yeah, I followed Joelle on Instagram. It looks like she's living her best life from the Instagram view of things. But I guess that's true for everyone, right? We all post like the best shit.

I'm not picturing the bad stuff. Yeah. I don't appreciate the person that's just like, I'm going to post all my bullshit on Instagram. I appreciate the person that's like, I'm going to fake it. I appreciate you. Thank you. You know, I don't want to see negativity. You're going to mute negativity. I like to see, show me something, make me laugh. Show me. Make me happy. Inspire me. I sent Donald the funniest fucking meme. Which one was it?

I can't, I'm not even going to talk about this on the podcast. It's too, it's too X-rated even for us, but that shit was funny. You sent me a couple that have been like, oh shit. I'm talking about the one, the one, the one that was related to Cunnilingus. Oh my god. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha No, I can't cancel the acolyte. Oh, sorry. We'll get a second season. Get that right for me. I may have fucked that up. No, that's fine. Don't worry about it. You could say that shit.

I don't want to make I don't want to make mistakes, but they canceled the acolyte, the acolyte. OK. But they didn't show. I'm going to be honest with you now that it's gone. Thank goodness they canceled that shit. Well, I guess all I guess all the mega fans agreed with you, Donald, because they it's gone, thank goodness they canceled that shit. Well, I guess all the megafans agreed with you, Donald, because they canceled it. Listen, I'm going to just say one thing.

They were stepping into waters that were just a little too deep. They were stepping into the lore of Darth Plagueis the Wise. And if you're going to do that, you have to really, really... I don't want to hear about his apprentice. I want to hear about the... You want to hear about his apprentice. I want to hear about the... You want to hear about his sexy ass apprentice? That's crazy, Donald. 85% of the reason I show up for that show.

We don't know if that's his apprentice. I said, Manny just said they're taking off his shirt. We don't even know if that's his apprentice. This is... Man, listen. Listen, 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 and kept telling stories. It had many, many, many, many issues, 100%. Yeah, well you know what I've been watching that I, okay, we had Tony Hale on and I went back and I started watching the final season of Veep 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 comedy 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 comedy that has more laugh out loud humor per minute than Veep. It's just, it's insane. The amount it's just all it is is set up joke, set up joke, joke, joke, joke, set up joke, my set up joke. It's like my question is this.

My question is this by season. Are you saying this or are you saying as a whole in general? I'm saying- Like, cause there are certain seasons of The Office that are fucking lights out compared to- Right, well it's a different- Most comedy on television.

Nah, yeah, they're both. Oh, they're both, we're talking about, you know, we're talking about Rerefied Air. We're talking about some of the funniest shows of our lives. I think Veep is one of the funniest comedies I've seen in my adult life, half-hour comedies. Yeah. Right on. 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 horrible people that they have license to say the most inappropriate, insane shit. It's brilliant writing. And Tony Hale is so funny, my God. And Julie- He's the one that says the least.

Yeah, he's like the only nice person. He's the only angel. Well, I'm so thrilled that we have Henry Winkler on today. I mean, this is a big honor. I mean, 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 for you, Donald, but in my life, it was a really important show.

And then the fact that he has had going on to have so much other success in other things makes me just so happy for him. He's known as like literally being the nicest guy in Hollywood. 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. You know how I take a lot of things, I don't take a lot of things serious, things that I should take really seriously. I fucking kind of am like, hey, you know, it is what it is. Right. That's just how I am. Yes. And I did that. And we're going to talk about this with him, obviously.

But I did that when I was shooting Clueless. They were like, you know, Henry Winkler's coming into direct for the week. Everybody, this is a great time. You're gonna have a, it's gonna be amazing. And I went out that night and partied at a club until like four o'clock in the morning and missed my call time by like an hour and walked to, and they called me,

they woke me up with a phone call and I run run to, you know, I get in 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 in deep shit when the makeup artist ain't saying shit to you, and the makeup artist is just looking at you like, mm, you dumb ass motherfucker. Right?

I'm not stepping in this shit. Right, I'm right, you know what I mean? I don't wanna be associated with you. Right, right. You know you in deep shit. So I get all my shit on and I run the set and Henry B lines right towards me. And I'm like, oh, he was directing the episode. Directing the episode. And I'm like, oh shit, here we go. And I'm like, first of all, I get very combative when people try to fucking authority, you know, when people are,

I hate authority. So when anybody try to fucking, you know, when people are, I hate authority. So when anybody tries to- I never noticed that. You never noticed that, right? So when anybody tries to fucking, you know, puff up, I puff back. That's just how I am, right? So he comes up to me and I'm ready to puff back

and he hits me with the kindest shit ever. We're not gonna do this here. We're not gonna have an argument. You're late. 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.

Oh my God. And I'm like, oh shit! Like he just completely diffused me everything, like I'm ready to fucking fight the Fonz. And this motherfucker's like, chill, chill. Let's fucking, right? Yeah. So we do the shit, 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 a human being. Like instead of just, you know, a lot of these actors, a lot of directors see actors a certain way. This dude's talking to me like- And you were young, you know, you were saying he was talking to you like a peer, not a kid. Not a kid, right. Right.

And so from that moment on, he and I have had a relationship that I look at it as a mentorship. He might not see it that way, but he's done so much for my life. So we'll leave it at that. Alright, well, let's bring him in. Henry Winkler's here. Don, do you want to count us down? Five, six, seven, eight!

We have some stories about a show we made About a bunch of dogs and nurses and a calendar who love to hang I said, here's our stories that we all should know So gather round to hear our, gather round to hear our Scrubs Rewatch show with Zach and Donno Oh, there they are. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.

Henry Winkler, I don't know that we've ever met in person, but my name is Zach and I'm a massive fan of yours. Zach, we met at an affair for children's HIV. Yes, at Elizabeth Glazer, pediatric AIDS. Yes. That's right. You came with me actually that year and we had Wilder with us Yes, at the Elizabeth Glazer pediatric AIDS. Yes. That's right. You came with me actually that year and we've had Wilder with us

and I introduced you to Henry Rehler. 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 you on the show and to talk to you. Thank you. Wow, what a, that's a great way to start. Well, it's the truth. It is the truth. You have, I mean, you've known me since I was 23 years old when I was fresh and new in this industry.

Donald Lennie. And you've directed me and, you know, ever since I can remember, being in Hollywood, being in Los Angeles, you have been like the example of what it means to be a good person and a nice person and a smart person in Hollywood. That's so funny because I'm changing tomorrow. Really? I've decided I've had it. Henry, you do have a reputation, I got to say.

I just did another person's podcast today and I said I had 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. Yeah, but you know what?

I have to say, I've thought about that. I mean, I don't know that I'm nice. What I think I am is 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 I have gratitude. Do you have to work on that?

Or I mean, or is that something that comes naturally to you? 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. Yeah, tell us the title of it. It's called Being Henry. I kept it very simple.

And there's a picture of me, so you can't miss it. I know. Good. And as I have to say, that in a few months, it comes out in paperback. Good, Being Henry, everybody. And you read the audio book by any chance? I did. it comes out in paperback. Good, being handy, everybody. And you read the audio book by any chance?

I did. No, I'm so dyslexic that most actors, what do they take like a day and a half to read a big talk-a-book? Yeah. They allowed me not a hundred hours. Wow. They gave me a hundred hours.

So you got to really go through it and do it in your voice and everything. You're not. Or go back over it because I left words out. Right. That's fine. Is that is that common with most actors? There are a lot of us out there with dyslexia. Like I have dyslexia bad, too. 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, Mr. Waltz, has a son who is learning challenged, who is nonverbalbal and people attacked him for getting so emotional about his dad. That's insane. Yeah, that was upsetting. I mean, yeah, I saw that too. That was really horrible.

When did you realize you were dyslexic? How did you figure it out? My stepson, Jed, who came into my life when he was four, in the third grade, he could not write a report on the Hopi Nation. We took him to visit the Hopi in Arizona because he was studying Native Americans in school. And he's so verbal, he's so funny.

And I said, well, come on, go back in your room and do it. And we finally had him tested. And everything they said about him was true about me. Wow. So how old were you? 31. Wow. So until 31, I thought I was just stupid. Wow. Wow. So until 31, I thought I was just stupid.

Wow. And when you were learning scripts, when you were auditioning back in the 70s, was that extra hard for you to memorize and to learn? Reading around the table. When we have our first readings, the entire crew can hear what is gonna 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 do reading wise, I could do in memorizing. 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 get so nervous.

So he was memorizing it for the table read. So he was battling that too. I actually had to tell on the last project I worked on, I had to tell them, listen, I have a really hard time putting words together when I read them. So table reads, you know, either get me the script early

or 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, it's really, it would be really hard. 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 day, 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 else. Yeah, but then all of a sudden, your performance speaks for itself, right? Right. You know, 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. Right. You know, it, it, people have got different problems. Yeah. And, uh, you,

you have overcome yours in that you are an improviser. Uh, 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 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. Yes. Thank you for saying that. It's Yes. Thank you for saying that.

It's true. It's true. But it means it means a lot coming from. I almost changed my plan. You know, I wish you would have. Shut up. That's funny. We'll still take you. We can get you a special deal. Well, listen, we can work on this.

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 we don't know, we just say we're in the commercials. You know what I- But for you, Henry, we'll go figure out what best plan is. We'll go figure out what we can do. Everybody likes a little ass-flick. You know, I did a commercial last year for eye care

because my father-in-law had geographic atrophy. And so I did this just saying, go to the doctor and check your eyes. And Dick Van Dyke out of the blue called me up. He said, I have this. Do you know any more than I do? I said, oh my God, I wish I did. No, I, Donald, I wish I did. No, I, 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, whatever, they compliment you for a thing they like. But occasionally I have people be like, those commercials are so funny with you and Donald. And I go, oh, thank you. They go, now tell me like the monthly, is it really?

And I'm like, I don't know what the monthly is. I honestly don't know what plan is best for you. That's great. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw. And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have a new podcast, Call It What It Is.

You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. And what does that look like? A thousand pep talks. A million I've got yous. Some very urgent I'm coming up first. Because, I don't know, let's face it, life can get even crazier than a season finale of Grey's Anatomy. And now here we are, opening up the friendship circle. To you! Someone's cheating?

We've got you on that. In-laws are in-lying? Let's get into it! Toxic friendship? Air it out. We're on your side to help you with your concerns. Talk about ours, and every once in a while, bring on an awesome guest to get their take on the things that you bring us. While we may be unlicensed to advise, we're gonna do it anyway.

Listen to Call It What It Is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel de Liya. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unearths the plot to murder a one woman WikiLeaks. Tephany exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your

podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad free, subscribe to the iHeartTrueCrimePlus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. It's too late for that. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours. BPM 110, 120. She's terrified.

Should we wake her up? Absolutely not. What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this?

We passed the review board a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In a galaxy far, far away.

No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? Right, in our own world. We're two space cadets and totally normal humans. Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right, and if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily of laughter and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right. And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills.

Hey! Join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs, and super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World as a part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time. I felt too seen. Drags.

I'm N.K. and this is Basket Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh look at you giving me therapy girl. Finally a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is

shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because, if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of f*** up conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something wrong with you. And it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Henry, I wanted to tell you, because you're talking about your book and your audio book, 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 audio books 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 got to don't read this book, listen to it. Because Gary had such a, for those of you who don't know, he was creator of so many beloved TV shows, including Happy Days, and a director with an enormous career, including Pretty Woman

and many others, but Gary had such a charactery voice. Oh my goodness. And him telling his stories and his voice is wonderful. And I just wanted to just segue into happy days via that because... I'll tell you something. I could not wear leather in the beginning. I had to wear cloth because ABCs thought for sure I was going to be associated with crime. In the beginning, you looked like you worked at a like at a mechanic shop

and everything like that. You always had the was it blue? Yes. But the jacket was a McGregor golf jacket. And it was very hard to be cool in cloth. Gary went to ABC and he said, you know, he could be hurt if he's riding his bike. He should fall over. He could get a scratch. And so, ABC said, when he's with his bike, he can wear leather. 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 Fonzie's bike again. That's how the leather got in there. It's amazing. And I'm telling you, if you listen 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 community going on another stage. He had, he had a Laverne Shirley and he's running between all of them, running all of these massive hits and he, and his anecdotes are so special.

I'm telling you, when Robin came to audition, now it's Wednesday, we start Monday morning at 10 o'clock on the soundstage. That is at nine o'clock we read, 10 o'clock we're on the soundstage. Nobody wanted to play this alien from outer space. Wednesday, now we're shooting on Friday, Wednesday comes finally a young very shy, very quiet man comes with the casting director and hello, hello, hello. And then this human being picked up the script.

When he opened his mouth, it was like a volcano went off on stage 19 at Paramount. And I knew get out of his way. Know my lines. And don't try to stand toe to toe with this genius that is now standing in front of me. Wow, and was that Robin Williams' first thing? Was that his first television? I think it was. Maybe he made appearances before that. Joelle can look it up for us, but.

But I think it might have been his first. He did comedy clubs. Right, his first TV appearance probably, right? us, but. But I think it might've been his first, he did comedy clubs. Right, his first TV appearance probably. Yeah, but oh my Lord. We always like to ask our guests, how did you get the part? What was your experience? Well, how did you get into the industry

and then how did you get the part? What was the. The industry, 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 $175 a week.

I was in heaven. Then I went 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 $2,000 for 12 months work, but I had enough money for a ticket to California for one month. In that month, the first thing I got was the Mary Tyler Moore show, which was the friends of that time. Yes. I got a scene. I had eight lines.

And then the next week, my second week, I auditioned at Paramount. Next week, my second week, I auditioned at Paramount. The room of actors waiting had all been on television. I had seen them 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,

sauntered out 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? Oh, my God. Wow. And I said, okay. What did you do to your voice? Cause what was cool?

You had to figure out like what's cool, or like universally. But I didn't, I didn't figure anything out. I went from being Henry, nervous, a short Jew, to, 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 I, I saw something in this young man and he gave me the part.

I read that he got, you weren't at all what Gary pictured for the part. 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 travel around the country and around the world, people say to me, Oh my God, I thought you were much taller. Yeah, did they shoot you in such a way that you- No, just the energy. The energy was, that's the most powerful energy. Like we have jokes about it at work, Zach and I,

like we had a stand-in named Deontay, and we called him Black Fonzie because he just had the gift of gab with the ladies and he knew how to work the crew and he knew everything. It was like, and we called him Black Fonzie because he just was so cool. You know what I mean?

Well, and all the ladies loved him. All the ladies loved him. Well, the ladies loved him, but he also, he had to end with every department. He was my stand-in. He had to end with every department. So every department knew him and he knew everyone. And he was just a cool guy on set, you know what I mean?

And it was just- That's great. Yeah, man. I make the joke, I have a friend who's very promiscuous. And I say, he got to move cities now, because I remember there being an episode where Fonzie had been with every woman in Milwaukee, and he had to move, didn't he? I just remember some joke about that.

So I always say that my friend, like he's got to change cities, because he's like Fonzie, 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?

I read a Beatle came up to you. 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 forms. And we stood talking. A woman came out of a storm, 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 10 minutes for 24 hours. As what I, as, as, 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? Cause I'd love to have lunch.

That's so funny. Well, I just mean, it must've been such a crazy existence because, you know, the level of success that not only the show had, but your character, I mean, they wanted to like change the name of the show to Fonzieies Happy Days. You broke out on such a level. It must have been-

Yeah, 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 Fonz without that family, without those boys, I don't know where he would be. And it is happy days.

If it's not broken, don't fix it. Don't fix, right. Was that hard for Ron Howard, do you think? Like has he ever shared with you that, obviously he broke out too, but I wonder what was that difficult for him? I think that he was signed on as the star of the show. And we had a drive home in his VW,

the original 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. And he said, look, it hurt my feelings, but you did not do anything. 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 yin and the yang of that. But that was the only time we ever talked about it. And he is still my, like my brother. Yeah. Yeah, because right after that, you got, he directed a movie, his first directorial debut, he made you the star of the movie. He came to me and he said,

look, Warner Brothers will fund the movie. They're gonna give me $6 million, but they asked, would you be in the movie? And you can play either role. And I thought, well, I was flamboyant for 10 years, I'm going to play Richie. And so I chose the character of Chuck and he was incredible. He was 25. Were you 25 at the time?

He was. No, I was, I was, he was 18 when I met him and I was 27. OK, so 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, I was about 10 years older than he was. And he was 25 years old. And he said, are they going to listen to me? The crew has been doing this 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. You know, I read for him when I was a kid for parenthood. I read for the part that went to Joaquin Phoenix. Wow. And I had this great memory, you just reminded me of, and this never happened ever in another audition, he was so sensitive. I must've been 13, 14, 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 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.

It 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. And it was very- Very wise. He was, even at 18 when I first met him, just an incredibly thoughtful, wise human being.

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, I was like, I did it. I made it. I did it. I made it. We did it. Yes. Yeah.

My name and Ron Howard's name are right next to each other. These are goals in life. You know what I mean? These are goals. My goal is to get back on Broadway. Oh, you got you should be on. You can make that dream in. Come on. Yeah, 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 right. Yeah. I hear you.

I've done a bunch of, I've done only on one Broadway show, but some off-Broadway ones. And the Broadway thing is so tough because, you know, the critics can literally shut it down real fast. They did? They did. When people go,

what does Henry mean it closed in one night? What happens is if you get trashed by the critics in New York, they just, people aren't gonna buy tickets. So it just closes. Especially the New York Times. Yeah, whatever the New York Times says. Yeah, at that time. In London, Henry, I don't know if you've ever had

that experience, but there's a little bit more, it's a fun experience to do a show there. And also it's a little more spread out in terms of not one paper controlling your entire fate. 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 1756, let's say, and this particular form. Yeah. 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. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh, I would love to see you on stage, Henry, so I hope you do that.

Thank you. Will you tell us about segueing into directing? Cause 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 feel that you'd been educated on doing, I mean, it's obviously sitcom directing is a unique style, but was that an education for you?

It was. And not only that, everything I learned about being a professional on the set in front or behind the, everything I learned about being a professional on the set, in front or behind the camera, I learned from Gary Marshall and from Jerry Restesol Paris. Jerry Paris directed, I don't know, 240 episodes of Happy Days.

He was unbelievable. He was also the dentist on the Dick Van Dyke show. He was unbelievable. He was also the dentist on the Dick Van Dyke show. He was the next door neighbor. OK, brilliant man. So this is the way I see my my directing career. Years ago, you would get a lawnmower and you would pull it in order to start it.

You would pull the cord and it would just about turn over. I was that lawnmower. My directing career never really turned over. I directed commercials. I directed half an hour. Yeah, Donald said you directed, Donald told a story about you directing him in Clueless and you were kind to him even though he was tardy one day.

I was so tardy. It was the first day you were there and I was so tardy. That was the beginning of my directing, yeah. 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've been a lot of things for me that you've done.

When I didn't have friends, you introduced me to your daughter, you know what I mean? Like, there's so many things that's just great about you, Henry. Thank you. You are an amazing person. And I think you're an amazing director also. Wow, you're the only one.

No, I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm sure every actor that you've ever worked with is like, no, he's a fucking amazing director. Listen, I hope you get another chance to direct as well too then if that's the case. Because you, listen, man, nobody, to this day, nobody has been able to get through them to me

the way you've been able to get through to me. Wow, thank you. And 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 All I did with Tim Conway was point the camera in the right direction I mean, you know when you watch on either youtube or tik tok when they come up with those harvey corman

Yes, those conway bits I wish that I had half that imagination. When Tim Conway was the dentist, and he kept on injecting himself with Novocaine. Yes, you haven't seen this audience. You have to look on YouTube. Oh my God. Just put in Tim Conway dentist,

you have to see the sketch from the Calbernet Show. But it really is no joke. It is one of the funniest things ever done anywhere. Now I have to ask you, 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 parenthood? I mean, I've spoke, I know Max a bit and, and he just speaks about you so lovingly. And I, and I, and I, you have any tips for parents out there?

How do you get your kids to love you as much as you do? Here is my overall tip. A herd 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 wanted to do. I did not have an opinion. I swore to my wife that I would be a different parent.

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. Dad. And you 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 30 seconds, 45 seconds. You're no later. You're not more on time. And that child goes, we're going to cook. We're going to talk about green. Yeah, I'm telling you, that're going to cook. We're going to talk about green. Yeah.

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 going on, respect the problem and look for making that child more comfortable, because the child knows they've got a problem. Well, 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 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 so sweet. And I thought to myself, 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, I've got three incredible children. My stepson came into my life when he was four. Uh, 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 37, sitting on her couch, watching children being separated from their parents, said, oh my goodness, those could be my children. With two other ladies started this organization. They've raised over $2 million with no overhead. Max said to me at 10 and to Stacey, I'm gonna be a director. 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 director. 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. My heart flew out of my body. Quelling, quelling as we say.

That's so sweet and he's really doing well. He's got a lot of great projects and I'm so happy for him. Let me just say, I haven't met him, but he directed Javier Bardem. And then Javier Bardem just invited he and his wife to dinner. I said, could I drive? Could I just be the limo driver?

I'll wear a hat and everything. That's funny. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw. And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have a new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. And what does that look like? A thousand pep talks. A million I've got yous.

Some very urgent I'm coming up first. Because, I don't know, let's face it, life can get even crazier than a season finale of Grey's Anatomy. And now here we are, opening up the friendship circle. To you. Someone's cheating? We've got you on that. In-laws are in-lying? Let's get into it. Toxic friendship?

Air it out. We're on your side to help you with your concerns. Talk about ours, and every once in a while, bring on an awesome guest to get their take on the things that you bring us. While we may be unlicensed to advise, we're going to do it anyway. Listen to Call It What It Is on the iHeartRadio app, Definitely Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel de Lilla. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere,

a podcast that unearths the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad free, subscribe to the iHeartTrueCrimePlus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session, 24 hours. BPM 110, 120, she's terrified. Should we wake her up?

Absolutely not. What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this? We passed the review board a year ago.

We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeart Radio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In a galaxy far, far away.

No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? Right. In our own world. We're two space cadets. And totally normal humans. world, remember? Right. In our own world, we're two space cadets. And totally normal humans. Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars,

discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right. And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills. Hey! Join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs,

and super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World as a part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time. I felt too seen. Um, dragged. I'm N.K. and this is Basket Case.

So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh look at you giving me therapy girl. Finally a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of f*** up conditions that are pretty hard to live with.

But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something wrong with you. And it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Alright, because we have you for a limited time, we're going to jump to Arrested Development. Yes. I want to talk. Yeah. You can say what you want to. Arrested Development. Yes. I wanna talk. Okay, yeah. You go ahead. Go ahead.

You can say what you wanna. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no You were being a dad at home for that time. What made you all of a sudden say, you know what? Cause when we had you on Clueless, you didn't want to act on the show at all. You were like, no, no, no. Even though they convinced you toward the end, like you're in like in the credits, you didn't want to act in the show.

What convinced you to get back into acting again? Somebody asked. Really? Sandler, you did a bunch of Sandler movies, right? I did a Sand acting again. Somebody asked. Really? Um, I'm not saying. You did a bunch of Sandler movies. I did a Sandler movie. It was hard for me to get an acting job. That's how I started writing, um, uh, children's books. We just wrote our fortieth.

Oh my God. Children's books that comes out in October, detective duck, uh, volume two. You write those, you write them. With Lynn 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 40 children's novels. Wow. That's amazing. That is amazing. No, so I, gosh, I can interview you forever, but my question is, cause 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 Fonzie, 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 it is hard to, I'm still working on branching out. I'm doing a tiny arc on this show called Bad Monkey where I'm actually doing something 180 degrees from JD. And people are- With Mr. Vaughn?

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 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.

I had just lived my imagination. Yeah. And now I can't get hired. I had no idea what to do. And I realized it was a great life lesson when you don't know what to do. And I realized, here's 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.

My lawyer, Skip Brittenham III, said, I know what you're gonna do, you're gonna produce. I said, I can't produce, I know nothing. He said, you're gonna produce. I said, I can't produce, I don't know nothing. He said, you'll learn. And the first show that I heard all these ideas, I said, oh, I like that idea, I wanna see that idea. The first show I ever produced with a man named John Rich, who's no longer with us, was MacGyver.

Oh my God, I forgot you produced MacGyver. Wow. Yeah. That was a big hit. It was a huge hit. It ran for 13. It's such a big hit that they remade it. Well, they remade it as a comedy, but then- No, they remade MacGyver as a television show too.

Oh, well, you're right. They remade it as a television show. Oh, I'm thinking of the silly one. And then they spoofed it on Saturday Night Live with MacGruber. Right, right. Yeah. You're right. I'm thinking MacGruber. But, wow, wait, so we, sorry, Henry, the first thing you produced was MacGyver? Yes, that was the first show. The second show was the next hit that I was able to produce with Ann Daniel was Sightings, because I love the paranormal. Yeah.

I just love that whole, I really think there's gotta be a whole other level that we're not privy to. Yeah. But the second- I agree with you. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But do you say, okay, so go on, I'm sorry. I cut you off. No, no, no.

The second show was an amazingly funny half hour comedy called Mr. Sunshine starring Jeff Tambor as a blind English professor. And it was. I mean, I cannot even begin to tell you the writers that we got. But that only lasted 13 episodes. So you never know. Yeah, you never know. You never know. I mean, I, I, I, Donald and I have both been on 10 episode shows. I've been on, yeah, I've been on, I've been on episode. Listen,

I've been on the shows that only lasted 13 episodes and that was it. Yeah, well, mine, I think I beat you. Alex Inc only went 10. No, you did more than that. You guys did like 12. No, we did 10, I think, but it was fun while it lasted. I will say this.

Thank goodness that Hollywood at least lets the 13 still air. Cause I remember, or you get paid for the 13. Oh, let me tell you. Cause I remember, or you get paid for the 13. Oh, let me tell you. Cause I remember you get canceled. That's a wrap. Oh, Donald, I was there. I did a show that I turned down twice

and it was written by Mark, somebody Mark. I'll go, it'll come to me. He was in Gary Goldberg's camp, you know, I'll go. It'll come to me. He was in Gary Goldberg's camp. You know, family ties. And he came to me with this idea of a rush limbo with a gay daughter. But it was in the 80s. Oh my God. And I said, no, it's too controversial, but it is so funny.

I've got to say yes. And we we sold it to NBC. Somebody in NBC must have looked at it after it was 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, but there's nothing to do with the original This is the life lesson When you're doing something and it gets bastardized to where you don't recognize it anymore, go home. Yeah. I got used to reminding me of 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 movie called 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 laugh at them. And David Duchovny plays, I think he's the show runner of the, of the creator of the show. Sigourney Weaver plays the studio head. And she says, look, we want to do the show, but we want to get rid of the suicide in the pilot.

And David Duchovny says, the suicide is the whole reason I in the pilot. And David DeCovey says, the suicide is the whole reason I wrote the show. The suicide was the raison d'etre for the whole pilot. And it's the whole reason that I'm sitting here in front of you and the show is getting made is because it started because of this. 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 someone who's in this industry, it like summed up everything about the struggle of getting stuff made. 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. Yeah. Wait, what? Our audience does not do well with grief. Yeah. What an, that's all that's on television right now. Wait, wait, I don't understand.

What analytics, what analytics were they looking at at the time? I don't know. I had another funny, well, I don't know. I've just done doing pilots and stuff. You see the dial testing and everything. It's such a trippy, weird thing. But wait, I want to leave time to talk. We gotta leave time to talk about two more mega hits.

So you basically got a cameo on Arrested Development and then you ended up doing 32 episodes. So I mean, did they just love the character and love what you were doing so much? 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. Yeah, you really have. You have some of the greatest. Adam Sandler. Yeah. Mitch Hurwitz. Yeah. John Schur. Uh, and then Bill Hader and Alec Berg.

Alec Berg. Yeah. Oh, you've really worked with, you really have worked with some of the most legendary showrunners of all time. It's unbelievable. So the, I mean, let's not forget Children's Hospital with that whole bunch of- Let's film that in the same set of scrubs you guys did. 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? Was that the environment that you could do some improvisation? You 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. Yeah, I had a scene 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, he was riffing the most insane, hilarious stuff. 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 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. 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. Yeah. Well, we've had that with Bill Lawrence. And I have to tell you, I'm directing Shrinking now.

Mark Lawrence, thank you. Mark Lawrence was the man who created the show I did, Monty, about Rush Limbaugh and his gay daughter. Oh, got it. Thank you. 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 it's his baby. I'm directing it, but we have this little battle sometimes over what's gonna end up in the show and what's not gonna end up in the show. But you're right, the brilliance of a great showrunner is someone like a Mitch Hurwitz or a Bill Lawrence or a Gary Marshall who goes, I hear you. I see what your contribution was.

I love it. But here's my vision and here's what it's gonna be. Because for me, I would let, for example, I would let my episode go long. Bill has a very clear vision. 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 funny, it's nice.

And he's like, it's too long, show's too long. And that's just a little minuscule example of like, this is his baby, this is his vision. This is why he's brilliant at what he does, you know? Yeah, but you know what? Everybody else benefits from somebody and this is why he's brilliant at what he does, 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 writers, everybody, it is essential. Yeah. You know, because I, listen, I think I am so funny. I am so great. Oh my God because I, listen, I 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. Yeah, I hear you. Yeah, well, that, yeah. When that's, when you realize that, when you realize you've gone too far, it's a little embarrassing. Well, and sometimes you're laughing. 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 at 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. The one that we started with. But we wasted so much time just now fucking around guys. Let's just go back to what was there. 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. It might be amazing, but you can't know that unless you try it. It doesn't work. Hey, you go on. I think that's the best advice, Henry, 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 wanna be judged. I mean, that's the best thing an acting class can give you. I'm telling you, you cannot be embarrassed. There's no room for it and there's no purpose for it.

You gotta try your imagination. Then if it doesn't work, I tried. I'm moving on. This is the perfect segue because I'm such a good podcast host. You're doing pretty well today. I'm not going to lie. Well, listen, watch this one. I'm enjoying the conversation between you two. Watch this one, Donald. Watch this segue.

You sound very much to me right now, Henry, like an acting teacher, 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 pieces of television, I think, in at least the last two decades, Barry. You are so phenomenal on this show. You've got an Emmy sitting behind you for it. Thank you.

How did that come about? How did you get it? How did you become part of this universe? Three things. I got a call that Bill Hader and HBO would like to meet you. I thought, oh my goodness, I'd never worked for HBO and I watched Bill Hader every Saturday night on Saturday Night Live. This is amazing.

They said, you're on Saturday Night Live. This is amazing. They said, you're on a short list. I said, is 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 for my audition.

Amazing. 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 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 with- Do they know? They do know. No, I'm saying it's funny, you know, obviously you're playing such a character and I loved you on the show, but there's moments where as I get talked to you,

where I see your personality, and especially 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, what happened with Donald and I, it's almost like Bill began to morph

and shape the character around. 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. And so, yes, they had a vision, and in that vision, they wrote to me.

And then, let me tell tell you toward the end, it got so dark, this comedy, that I had to buy a miner's hat with a lamp so I could see where we were going. Ha ha ha! 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 Hader did something I love so much, which is, and I think that we aspired to do on Scrubs, which was take single camera comedy directing to a higher level. Yes, right. And man, did he raise the bar on direction of a half hour comedy.

But I'll tell you something again, you know, you can't throw the word around, but there is brilliance in that young man. Yeah. That is. Oh, it's so clear. It is so clear, man. Yeah. I'm gonna say, Bill Hader is a very, very,

just character work, all of that stuff. He's just very unique, man. 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 dramedy and start winning comedy awards, I think you really, really, you know, you're touching something.

Like that's hard to do. Absolutely. I agree with you 100%. 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, I don't know, man. I could be loud and get laughs. It's kind of hard for me to be soft and quiet and be like this and talk natural and get a laugh. There's so many levels to it. And this was one of those shows where I could just

show you a brilliant... Yeah, and you know what it is, Donald? 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, 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 seen it, but I, I went in the corner and shook for a while.

All I mean, I have to tell you just from, your performance was just magical. The leading lady, Sarah Goldberg, there's a few times where she does a monologue as a oner that never cuts off of her face. I think Bill did it a few times and it's just unbelievable, her performance. And just really, really, just incredible, incredible.

Yeah, she's on industry now, that show industry. Yeah, I wanna check that out. I wanna keep hearing about that. That is a hard show. I wanna check that out. Now let's just end on, you post pictures of your fishing. Are you an avid, you're an avid fisherman? I love it more than I can tell you.

Really? Which style do you do? We do, well, I've done a lot. Deep sea fishing, I vomit. Yeah, me too. Bass fishing, if you catch it, you reel 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 to you in the world. And my wife is a great fisher person. I don't show pictures of my wife's fish, because they're usually bigger. Ah! Ah! How did you learn? How did you get into it?

Skip Brittenham III took me and Stacey 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 Wow and I didn't catch much but no pun intended I was hooked and so since the middle 80s Stacey and I have gone every year to fly fish for trout yeah you sound Jenkins talked a lot about fly fishing he really enjoyed fly every year to fly fish for trout. Yeah. You sound like- Ken Jenkins talked a lot about fly fishing.

He really enjoyed fly fishing. He really enjoys fly fishing. Oh my God. He would talk about it. Jimmy Kimmel is a big fisherman. Michael Keaton is a big fisherman. And this is fly fishing yourself. This is fly fishing exclusively.

I only know it from the movie A River Runs Through It. 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. Oh, that's so sweet.

And you could also feel like you're Brad Pitt. Yeah. Oh, yes. Well, you know, from the face down. Well, Henry, we want to thank you so much. There must be there must be men on this planet that are just so ugly. They don't leave home because Brad got all the good looking. Yeah, he's just so handsome.

And yeah, we got to meet him. Yeah. I's just so handsome, man. Oh my God. We got to meet him recently. Yeah, I got lost in his eyes recently. And I found myself when we're leaving like, can I have a hug? You know what I mean? I'm telling you. Can I have a hug? Yeah, doll, doll.

You know what I did with Brad? I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but we're at an award show. There's Brad Pitt in this long flowing cashmere coat. And I said to him, everything that I said, don't move. I just have to get my wife. And I got my wife and took a picture of those two together. It's funny, we were walking,

Donald and I were walking at F1 in Vegas. And I told him, we're going to meet Brad Pitt at cool. And he goes, I'm gonna take a selfie. I go, don't take a selfie. He goes, I can't take a selfie. I go, do not, we're going to meet Brad Pitt, act cool. And he goes, I'm going to take a selfie. I go, don't take a selfie. Oh, he goes, I can't take a selfie. I go, do not, 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 you. Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw. And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have a new podcast call it what it is You may know us from Graceland Memorial But did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do we navigate the highs and lows of life together?

And what does that look like a thousand pep talks a million? I've got you some very urgent I'm coming first because I don't know, let's face it, life can get even crazier than a season finale of Grey's Anatomy. And now here we are, opening up the friendship circle. To you! Someone's cheating? We've got you on that. In-laws are in-lying?

Let's get into it! Toxic friendship? Air it out. We're on your side to help you with your concerns. Talk about ours, and every once in a while, bring on an awesome guest to get their take on the things that you bring us. Definitely Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was murdered. My name is Manuel de Lilla. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unearths the plot to murder a one woman WikiLeaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into

a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad free, subscribe to the iHeart True Crime Plus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. I've been thinking about you. I want you back in my life. It's too late for that. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session, 24 hours. BPM 110, 120. She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not.

What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this? We passed the review board a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.

They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I fell two scene. Um, dragged. I'm N.K. and this is Vaskay Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown.

I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big, sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Finally, a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in.

Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something wrong with you, and it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In a galaxy far, far away. No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? In a galaxy far, far away. No babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? Right. In our own world. We're two space cadets. And totally normal humans. Turr, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time.

We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right, and if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills. Hey, join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs, and super corny dad jokes.

Listen to In Our Own World as a part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time. We watch your Wizette and I know. Wow. I really, I want him to be my father. I kept thinking of McDonald's. Wow. I really, I want him to be my father.

I kept thinking of my dad and I miss my dad the whole time. Wow. He's a great man. What a man. Your dad was a great man too. No, my dad was an incredible man, but didn't he, wasn't he like the father

that you want in your life? I mean, he's the most. Well, look, I kept telling y'all in the beginning, he's like a mentor to me and I don't think he knows it. Everything I said, with every insecurity I had, everything, Donald, hold up, let's go back. Yeah. I love him. Let's address this. I love him. You know what I mean? Like, he's just such a great person. He's just, he's one of those people that,

you know, and, and, and, and, you know, we don't know what dwells deep dark in his heart, but there's gotta be so much love in it. 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, he seems what I aspire to be, which is like present and joyful. And yeah, your career will have highs and lows and things will happen, but he's got the love of this family and he and his wife go fishing together. I mean, he just seems like the dreamiest person. Yeah, man. It seems, he just seems like the dreamiest person. Yeah, man. It seems like he's living the dream.

But he also said something that was really important though. It's because he's grateful. Yeah, that's when he started the whole thing. He's gracious. Yeah. We need to work on that, you and me. Oh my goodness gracious, do we? Oh wow.

I do it every night, I go to bed. I do have the ritual of saying, that I learned saying what am I grateful for that happened today? I've been doing okay at that. It's just that when annoying things happen or things that are frustrating or I get depressed about something, he's right.

It's the best thing to do is switch to gratitude and switch to how lucky we are, because we forget. Because we forget, we really do. And that's everybody, everybody listening. We all, I'm sure everybody listening can relate that we have so much to be grateful for. And I'm grateful for you, Joel and DJ Danil. He called Joel Joel and Danil DJ.

All right, DJ. I loved it. All right, DJ. All right, Joel. Joel from now on. The audience not watching on YouTube didn't see that he did that whole interview with a ball or Emmy sitting right beside him for Barry.

Yeah, he did. That's how you do it. Yeah, by the way, if I ever win an Emmy, it's gonna go right on this counter. Well, you got a Grammy. Why don't you freaking put the Grammy up so we can see it. The Grammy doesn't feel...

Doesn't feel what? Well, it doesn't feel relevant. Motherfucker, you got part of the EGOT! I did get the one part of the EGOT. You got the G! I got the G! You got the G! 5, 6, 7, 8!

Here's some stories About a show we made About a bunch of Docs and nurses and a janitor Who loved to hate us and here's Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw. And is Camilla Luddington and we have a new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together.

Big or small, we are there. And now here we are opening up the friendship circle to you. Listen to call it what it is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017 was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearth the plot to murder a one woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a Mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your

podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad free, subscribe to the iHeartTrueCrimePlus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. What was that? That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. Can Kay trust her sister or is history repeating itself? There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams.

Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm NK, and this is Basket Case. What is wrong with me? A show about the ways that mental illness is shaped by not just biology, swaps of different meds, but by culture and society. By looking closely at the conditions that cause mental distress, I find out why so many of us are struggling to feel sane, what we can do about it, and why we should care. Listen to Basket Case every

Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before. Tried to assassinate the president of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson, 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nicknamed Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI, identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current.

Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts.