Henry Winkler has revealed his sweet payday after agreeing to appear at the last minute in Adam Sandler’s hit comedy The Waterboy.
The Happy Days star, 78, who reunited with her former co-star Ron Howard at the 2024 Emmy Awards, shared on Kelly Ripa Let’s talk off camera podcast that he was only paid a ‘cookie’ to complete after Sandler’s original actor dropped out at the last minute.
The 1998 blockbuster starred Sandler as a sheltered 31-year-old man with a speech impediment and an overbearing mother who works as a water boy for the University of Louisiana football team.
But when the team and his coach (played by Winkler) discover that he, too, is a virtually unstoppable tackling machine, he abandons his bucket and becomes the team’s linebacker.
‘I did Waterboy. (Sandler) called me in the middle of the night. He said, “Henry, I need a favor. My actor didn’t show up. I need you to drive right now to the park in Los Angeles,” Winkler recalled, via the New York Post.
Henry Winkler, 78, revealed he was only paid a ‘cookie’ for agreeing to appear in Adam Sandler’s 1998 film The Waterboy at the last minute; seen in 2021 in Los Angeles
Winkler told Kelly Ripa that Sandler called him at 11:30 pm the night before filming because his actor who played the coach had not shown up. ‘I go and say, ‘Okay.’ I shave. I drive. Go. Feel. I put on my makeup until 3:30 in the morning,” said Winkler; Still from The Water Carrier
It wasn’t ideal timing for Winkler, as it was almost midnight when Sandler called him, but he was still willing.
‘I go and say, ‘Okay.’ I shave. I drive. Go. Feel. “I put on makeup until 3:30 in the morning,” Winkler continued. ‘Do you know what I have? A cookie.’
The admission seemed to surprise Ripa, who noted that she had continued to work with Sandler several times in the future, including on his films Little Nicky (2000), Click (2006) and You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (2008). .
But despite the supposed pittance of the payment, that didn’t stop the film and television star from working with Sandler several times.
‘No Maserati for Henry Winkler?’ Ripa asked, and Winkler responded that she couldn’t even keep the clothes she wore on camera.
Ripa persisted and tried to convince him what kind of luxury car Sandler could pay him back with, but Winkler had no interest in sports cars.
“I don’t want a Maserati because it would be too low to get into. I’d have to sleep with him,’ he joked. “I never got out.”
Instead, he said he would be perfectly happy with “the small version” of a Lexus.
Winkler may not have cared much about his pay, as he had a great time working with Sandler.
‘I love it. He’s what you imagine,’ Winkler said of the Uncut Gems star. ‘He’s crazy. He is different. He is a family man. He is loyal. He is funny. He is amazed. He has a vision.
Ripa was surprised that Winkler supposedly only received a cookie for the favor, despite continuing to work with Sandler on his films Little Nicky (2000), Click (2006), and You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (2008); Still from The Water Carrier
‘I love it. He’s what you imagine,’ Winkler said of the Uncut Gems star. ‘He’s crazy. He is different. He is a family man. He is loyal. He is funny. He is amazed. He has a vision’; still from The Water Carrier
Winkler, who also said Sandler is “in charge of every detail” of the movies he stars in, said he wasn’t interested in a super-low-top sports car but would be satisfied with a “small version” of a Lexus as a backup. pay; photographed together in Click (2006)
He added that Sandler is “in charge of every detail” of the films he directs, although he has only been officially credited as director of a single music video.
There is no frame that escapes you. “It doesn’t matter what it is,” Winkler continued, sweetly adding, “I love and respect him deeply.”
However, he did let slip a parting comment against the former Saturday Night Live star, known for his sometimes ridiculously casual clothing.
“I’m not crazy about the way they dress,” Winkler jokes.