Henry Winkler thought his small role in Scream would be a fun favor for Wes Craven. The surprise came after filming, when the studio told him it did not want his name or image used to sell the movie.
Winkler, who played Woodsboro High Principal Arthur Himbry in the 1996 horror hit, said executives worried audiences would see the Fonz from Happy Days instead of someone who belonged in a slasher movie. “You will knock the balance of horror off,” he recalled being told during a recent In Depth With Graham Bensinger interview.
The decision hit harder because Winkler was already dealing with the downside of playing one of television’s most recognizable characters. He has said for years that his association with Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli made it difficult to find acting work after Happy Days, even though the role had made him a star.
Then the studio’s calculation took an unexpected turn. Winkler said test audiences applauded when he appeared onscreen. The same people who had not wanted to advertise his involvement later asked whether he would help promote the movie and he agreed.
Wes Craven Offered Him the Part Over Lunch
Winkler said the role began during one of the regular lunches he shared with Craven. The director mentioned that he was making a new movie and had a small role available as a high school principal.
Winkler immediately agreed. He traveled to Santa Rosa, California, where Scream was filming, and spent about a week working on what became Principal Himbry, the Woodsboro High administrator eventually murdered by Ghostface.
The death proved more elaborate than the size of the role suggested. Winkler was rigged with tubes carrying fake blood underneath his clothes before filming the stabbing sequence.
He recently told People that after one take, Craven asked whether the death could be more “excruciating.” Winkler showered, was fitted with the blood effects again and returned to perform the scene with an even more intense scream. Winkler has said he had a great time making the film despite not being a horror fan himself.
The Fonz Became the Studio’s Marketing Problem
The problem came after his work on the movie was finished. “The studio comes to me and says, ‘We can’t put your name on the film. We cannot put you anywhere near the poster,’” Winkler recalled in the Bensinger interview, according to Entertainment Weekly.
When he asked why, Winkler said he was told that his identity as the Fonz could disrupt the horror movie’s tone. He went home upset and described himself as both bewildered and insulted by the decision.
He has described periods when acting roles became so difficult to secure that he shifted much of his attention toward producing and directing.
‘Scream’ Was Selling a Much Younger Ensemble
Wes Craven’s film centered primarily on a younger ensemble led by Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, alongside David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard and Jamie Kennedy. Drew Barrymore was given especially prominent marketing attention despite her character’s fate in the movie’s opening sequence.
Winkler’s Himbry was a comparatively small supporting role, and his name did not appear among the billed cast on the theatrical poster. The film opened in U.S. theaters on Dec. 20, 1996, meaning the original Scream reaches its 30th anniversary this December.
Test Audiences Changed the Conversation
He said he later learned that audiences applauded when Principal Himbry appeared onscreen. Instead of disrupting the movie’s horror atmosphere, the unexpected appearance of the former Happy Days star had generated a positive response.
That was followed by an even stranger request. Winkler recalled that the same company that had decided not to put his name on the movie or poster then asked whether he would participate in press for its release.
He agreed. “And so of course, for me, for Wes, for the movie I did, I said, ‘Of course I will,’” Winkler recalled. “That’s the lesson. You just show up,” Winkler said. “You have no idea what’s going to happen, but that’s out of your control.”