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By Suzanne

Interview with Henry Winkler of "Royal Pains" on USA Network 2/22/11.

SPEAKERS
Cathy Choe
Henry Winkler

PRESENTATION

Moderator Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Royal Pains Q&A with Henry Winkler. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode and shortly will conduct a question and answer session; instructions will be given at that time. And as a reminder, today’s call’s being recorded. I will now turn it over to Miss Cathy Choe for some opening remarks.

C. Choe Good morning this is Cathy Choe from New Media Strategies. I’d like to thank everyone for joining us for today’s Royal Pains Q&A session and start things off by thanking Henry Winkler for being us today to answer question. As you know, Henry plays as Eddie Lawson in the hit series Royal Pains, which airs on Thursdays at 9, 8, Central on USA. In a moment we’ll begin the Q&A session. I’d like to remind all participants that you will receive a transcript of this session within the next 24 to 48 hours. I would also like to remind everyone to please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up at a time and then reenter the question queue for any additional questions. This will ensure that we field as many questions as possible within the allotted time. I would now like to turn the call back over to our Moderator, Keeley, to begin the formal Q&A session; please go ahead.

Moderator Thank you. Our first question will come from the line of Pattye Grippo of Pazsaz; please go ahead.

P. Grippo Hi, Henry, thanks so much for talking with us today.

H. Winkler Hi. Is this Pattye?

P. Grippo Yes it is.

H. Winkler Hi.

P. Grippo So I wanted to ask you how did you initially get involved with working on Royal Pains?

H. Winkler Oh, if I’m not mistaken this is exactly how it happened.

P. Grippo Okay.

H. Winkler The producer, Andrew, was sitting at dinner and next to him was my dentist and his wife. They overheard them talking that they’re looking for the father for Royal Pains. My dentist’s wife was a fan; she said, “Oh, you know who it should be? Henry Winkler.” A little while later I had breakfast with Michael and Andrew who run the show, brilliantly I might add and they asked me if I would join the cast and I embarrassed myself in the restaurant.

P. Grippo Ha ha, sounds like a good idea though, you got the part.

H. Winkler You know what, my wife and I watched every episode; we were appointment television viewers of the show before I ever got the call to see if I was interested.

P. Grippo So you were a fan, then, huh?

H. Winkler Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I kept bringing up, details about the show, I probably embarrassed myself and overwhelmed the producers, but I kept saying, “Wow, that car,” it gets its air conditioning from the sun; it’s a solar car; that’s amazing.

P. Grippo Well and as a quick follow-up let me ask you, what do you find the most challenging about bringing your character of Eddie to life on screen?

H. Winkler That’s a good question. If I had to pick something, the challenge is to make sure that I am toe-to-toe with Mark and Paolo, Jill and Reshma because they are really good; they are the real deal and I want to carry my weight.

P. Grippo Great, well thank you very much.

H. Winkler What a pleasure, thanks for your question.

P. Grippo Thank you.

Moderator And we’ll go next to the line of Nancy Harrington of a Pop Culture Passionistas; please go ahead.

N. Harrington Hi, it’s really an honor to speak with you today; I’m here with my sister, Amy, who’s my writing partner.

H. Winkler Hi Amy.

A. Harrington Hello.

H. Winkler How are you?

A. Harrington Wonderful, so, ladies.

N. Harrington We were wondering, obviously Eddie is not a character that you’re actually like in real life, but are there ways that you’re similar to Eddie and in what ways are you --?

H. Winkler All right, let’s see. If I’m similar to Eddie, I love my children, I am misunderstood, I am annoying, I have not borrowed $50,000 from my children and then not repaid them. I have not turned my children into the FBI. Aside from that, it’s, I’m so close.

N. Harrington On a side note we were wondering, it was just announced a few weeks ago that you were awarded the Order of the British Empire so --.

H. Winkler Amazing, isn’t that amazing?

N. Harrington … about and how it made you feel.

H. Winkler All right; I got a letter that said, “You must keep this a secret. If the Queen decides to give you an award, would you accept it?” I said, “Can I say yes I would.” I would be okay with that. And then six weeks later I get a letter saying, “The Queen of England has graciously agreed to confer on Henry Winkler the order of the British Empire,” for the work that I do in England also with children who learn differently. My books, Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever that I co-write with Lynne Oliver, are also popular in the UK and I go over there to tour for the books and I’ve spoken to, oh, I want to say a hundred thousand students over there also. And so, my work with children who learn differently is what got me to this wonderful honor. The Queen.

N. Harrington Thank you so much for your time today; it was an honor to talk to you.

H. Winkler You know what? Me, too, thank you very much.

N. Harrington Thank you.

Moderator Thank you and next we go to the line of Jamie Steinberg of The Starry Constellation; please go ahead.

H. Winkler Jamie?

J. Steinberg Yes, it’s a pleasure to speak with you.

H. Winkler Thank you, Jamie, how are you?

J. Steinberg Wonderful.

H. Winkler What city are you in?

J. Steinberg Fort Lauderdale.

H. Winkler Okay, I’m in LA.

J. Steinberg Ha ha.

H. Winkler Just wanted to know where we were.

J. Steinberg As long as we’re here together in our hearts, I think that’s all that matters.

H. Winkler Do you know what? I think that’s so true.

J. Steinberg Ha ha ha.

H. Winkler Gezund.

J. Steinberg Well, there’s such great chemistry between you and, and Hank and of course, um, um --.

H. Winkler Paolo.

J. Steinberg Yes, Paolo and, really when you’re interacting with them it’s like, --. A true father figure.

H. Winkler Yeah, what you see, Jamie, honestly, what you see is what you get. You cannot lie; the camera does not lie. And we had so far the most wonderful time together and we don’t talk about it a lot; you do it once for the crew, , you go through a scene then for the camera placement; you go through the scene for where you’re going to be in the room, how you’re gonna move together. You go and you put your makeup on, you go put your costume on. You come back and then you shoot it two or three times and out of that come these unbelievably wonderful scenes. I honestly believe that some of the best work I’ve done on television are the scenes that I have done with Mark, you know, they are so emotional and layered but also it’s great writing.

You know everybody says that when I meet them on the plane or in an airport of some place in America, people talk to me about Royal Pains and they always talk about how much they enjoy everybody talking to each other. It makes me happy.

J. Steinberg Well, as a fan of the show and also a star of the show, why do you think people keep tuning in to watch it?

H. Winkler Do you know what? I think because of what you said; I think that they, first of all, I imagine in the middle of the winter there’s this beautiful blue sky show that just takes you away to a place you want to be. Number two, I think because it is well written because after everything is said and done no matter how good the actors are, if it’s not on the page, there’s a famous expression, if it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage. If it’s not written well then we actors, you, it’s hard to memorize; it’s hard to make real. It’s hard to get going, so I think that that combined all together, made me a fan.

J. Steinberg Well it’s just lovely; thank you so much.

H. Winkler Thanks, nice to chat with you.

J. Steinberg You, too.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Linda Seide of Your Entertainment; please go ahead.

L. Seide Hi, it’s such a pleasure to speak with you.

H. Winkler Thank you; that makes me feel good.

L. Seide Tell me, do you if the show has been renewed for next season?

H. Winkler Oh absolutely, I believe, if I’m not mistaken, the show is the highest rated on USA and the third-highest rated show in all of cable.

L. Seide That’s fabulous.

H. Winkler I think USA when I saw them at the press junket in Los Angeles, a few weeks ago, were just thrilled. So yes, we’re renewed. I would not be surprised if we’re renewed for the fourth year --.

L. Seide That’s really, really fabulous. I have been a fan of the show since the very beginning.

H. Winkler Can I ask a question? Can you hear my answers to the other?

L. Seide Yes I can.

H. Winkler So do you agree with me? Am I in the right area of why you think the show is a hit?

L. Seide Oh, absolutely. I think the writing is absolutely stellar and the relationships between all of you come across as so genuine.

H. Winkler Yeah.

L. Seide And, Mark is just so adorable.

H. Winkler Oh, my god, he is so adorable. He has got more energy. There must be 15 people lying on a dog bed because he’s got all their energy.

L. Seide Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha --.
H. Winkler Curled up somewhere, I’m not kidding. He is an incredible leader on that set, always filled positively.

L. Seide That’s wonderful --.

H. Winkler And that’s not joke, I mean --.

L. Seide Yeah, yeah --.

H. Winkler That just is the truth.

L. Seide So tell me how do you envision a different Eddie R. next season or will Eddie not be different?

H. Winkler Do you know what? I don’t know that; I thought about that and I don’t try to second-guess the writers because they are so precise. They are there all the time; the writer of the episode, now the writer’s room is in California, the set is on long Island.

L. Seide Oh --.

H. Winkler Over in Brooklyn.

L. Seide Right.

H. Winkler And the writer who writes the episode is flown out so that they can be there on the set so that if you turn to them and you say, “Oh, my gosh, I need to say something about this,” or, “I can’t say that, but how about this,” they will rewrite on-the-spot.

L. Seide Oh, that’s very interesting.

H. Winkler Yeah and you know, Andrew and Michael are very clear and I think that’s another reason that the show is so successful because you have to have a point of view if you’re going to stick and those boys do.

L. Seide What would you like to change about your character if you could?

H. Winkler I’d like to be in more episodes, thank you --.

L. Seide … --.

H. Winkler I’ll be here all week, try the veal. No, I, that’s if I had to change, I would like to be in all episodes.

L. Seide Ah, well, we would love that, too.

H. Winkler Thank you, I’m just, I’m starting a write-in campaign.

L. Seide Ha, ha, ha, ha, I will be the first one-.

H. Winkler I just started and I’m going to start a Twitter campaign.

L. Seide What is your Twitter ID so I can friend you, follow you?

H. Winkler Hwinkler4real.

L. Seide Okay.

H. Winkler Hwinkler4real and I try to write funny things. My friends Rob Cordry or Rob Hubel, they write funny, funny things every day. This morning I wrote, “It’s hard for some of us to say no when we should.”

L. Seide Well that is very true.

H. Winkler I didn’t get a lot of laughs.

L. Seide Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, I’m laughing.

H. Winkler Thank you.

L. Seide Thank you very much.

H. Winkler A pleasure.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Sarah Eve Fulghum at Escalate Media; please go ahead.

S. Fulghum Hi, Henry, thank you for your time.

H. Winkler Hi Sarah, how are you today?

S. Fulghum I’m doing well, how are you doing?

H. Winkler Fine, fine, I’m so good.

S. Fulghum Aw, that’s good to hear. With Royal Pains having a health and medical theme I’m wondering how is life when filming. Is the food healthy and exercise encouraged?

H. Winkler Well, you know what? Exercise is encouraged; I try to exercise. I have literally walked on the treadmill once in the 90s and I’m going to do that again in 2011.

S. Fulghum Good goal.

H. Winkler Thank you.

S. Fulghum So how’s the food?

H. Winkler The food, on the set?

S. Fulghum Ya.

H. Winkler Well I will tell you the food on the set is not bad. Now there are some caterers out there that are incredible, but I do because we, because shoot in New York and I stay in New York for long stretches of time, not only do I get to see my granddaughter, but I have found the best hamburger in New York City, a great cheeseburger, which is in the Parker Meridien Hotel and it’s called The Burger Joint.

S. Fulghum Hm.

H. Winkler So if you like cheeseburgers it used to be PJ Clarke’s, but this one has now overtaken it.

S. Fulghum Good to know.

H. Winkler The little sides, I thought maybe we would be interested.

S. Fulghum He he he, I’m sure a lot of people are going to be interested in that little fact. And I’ve got to know, what is your secret to aging well?

H. Winkler Wow I don’t know. I would have to say genes; it’s one of the better things I got from my parents.

S. Fulghum So you just got lucky.

H. Winkler Yeah. They didn’t me encouragement; they gave me good genes.

S. Fulghum Good … though right?

H. Winkler You know what? I’m thrilled to death. At least I don’t yet need a walker.

S. Fulghum Very happy about that. We’re happy to see you on the show.

H. Winkler Thank you.

S. Fulghum Well thank you for your time today, Henry.

H. Winkler A pleasure.

S. Fulghum Thank you.

Moderator We’ll go next to the line of Sheldon Wiebe at eclipsemagazine.com.

S. Wiebe Hi Henry --.

H. Winkler Hi Sheldon.

S. Wiebe I’m really glad to be doing this. Earlier you were talking about, ah, --.

H. Winkler Are you from Canada?

S. Wiebe I am from Canada, Calgary, actually.

H. Winkler Where?

S. Wiebe Calgary.

H. Winkler Oh, yeah, I was just there about a few months ago.

S. Wiebe You were talking about aspects of the character and how you play him and I was just wondering. In order to bring a character to life … there’s got to be some kind of point where you relate to him. So I was wondering, what do you like most about Eddie and what do you like least?

H. Winkler I’ll tell you exactly what I like least first. It is so difficult to look my son in the eye, to look Mark in the eye when he says, “You left when mom was sick and we were nine and eleven.” And I take no responsibility for that. That is the most difficult - those are the most difficult moments to play because it is, first of all, so against my grain and second of all, I particularly don’t like the character at the moment.

S. Wiebe Understandably.

H. Winkler And what I like about doing him is his zest for life. And he truly now has come to the point, I believe, unless I’m proven wrong, and I will find out in subsequent scripts, but he’s come to the point where he really appreciates his sons.

S. Wiebe I agree.

H. Winkler You know?

S. Wiebe Umhm.

H. Winkler I’ll tell you something else I’m not particularly fond of Eddie about. That he dismisses Evan in order to get to Hank.

S. Wiebe Wow, yeah, he does.

H. Winkler That’s very hurtful when I do that, when I look in Paolo Costanzo’s eyes because Paolo is right there with you, at the moment. He’s right in the moment with you when you are, and he takes it so personally.

S. Wiebe He looks like a wounded puppy.

H. Winkler He does and it just strikes right into my heart when I look in his eye; I’m not kidding. No one has ever asked me that question, that’s my answer.

S. Wiebe Cool, as a follow-up, as we come to the close of this season, Eddie is caught between something of a rock and a hard place --.

H. Winkler Yes.

S. Wiebe Ah, he’s --.

H. Winkler Pretty much in a hard place.

S. Wiebe He has to either actually be less healthy or find a doctor to lie about him being less healthy in order to stay with his boys.

H. Winkler Yes.

S. Wiebe Or he has to admit he’s healthy and go to jail.

H. Winkler Yes.

S. Wiebe Personally, which direction would you prefer him to go? Do you think he should do the time --?

H. Winkler I can’t tell you because if I do tell you, I will give away Thursday night.

S. Wiebe Ah.

H. Winkler And my producers will sue me. I mean literally take me to court.

S. Wiebe Okay, well thanks very much for talking with us --.

H. Winkler I’m so happy to chat with you.

Moderator Thank you. And next we’ll go to the line of Jay Jacobs with popentertainment.com.

J. Jacobs Hi Henry, it’s an honor to talk to you.

H. Winkler Thank you.

J. Jacobs You’re the first autograph I ever got. I --.

H. Winkler Really.

J. Jacobs I wrote away to Happy Days when I was a little kid and got an autographed picture a few weeks later so --.

H. Winkler Oh, wow.

J. Jacobs It was always very special, very and also I’ve got to tell you, you’re the executive producer of my favorite movie ever, The Sure Thing, too.

H. Winkler That was the first movie my company ever did and Roger Birnbaum the head of my company; he just took over MGM. He was the head of Spy Glass with his partner, Gary, and they just took over, I mean it’s so amazing how the circle of this business keeps going around.

J. Jacobs Isn’t it though. Now obviously, years you were known as Fonzie and that’s such an iconic role that --.

H. Winkler Pretty much yesterday.

J. Jacobs Yes exactly. But I thought it’s interesting how lately you’ve been playing some very offbeat characters like Eddie and your character in Arrested Development. Is it fun to play sort of flawed characters after being best known for a character who is sort of known for being so cool and perfect?

H. Winkler You know what is interesting is that I went to college and studied drama. I went to drama school and got a master’s degree. So I really wanted to be prepared; I really love my job. I am filled with gratitude that I get to do my job. The Fonz was as far as me as you could possibly be. I’m playing this tough Italian; I’m a short Jew. He rode a motorcycle and I had trouble with a two-wheeler. So that’s my job, is to create these people and make them come so to life that I’m having fun and you’re having fun watching. So I thoroughly enjoy and I thoroughly enjoy Eddie and I’ll repeat it again because there is this room of writers in Los Angeles and they are young and then there are veteran writers in that room who could, and each one of these people could run their own show.

So when I say it’s well written, it, these people are great at what they do.

J. Jacobs Now Christine Ebersole has also always been a very underrated actress. What’s she like to work with?

H. Winkler I’ll tell you what she’s like; she is a life force unto herself and I was in my car, I listen to Sirius radio and I listen to satellite and I listen to Broadway, musicals.

J. Jacobs Umhmm.

H. Winkler She just yesterday came into my car singing from Gray Gardens, which I believe she won a Tony for.

J. Jacobs Umhmm.

H. Winkler And it just lit the, it was like the sun shot into my car. You know, she is just fantastic. Did you see her on the Kennedy Center awards singing?

J. Jacobs No I missed that.

H. Winkler Yeah, she’s just brilliant.

J. Jacobs Yeah, she’s great. Well thank you so much and best of luck.

H. Winkler And also … if that interests you.

J. Jacobs That is good to know, now --.

H. Winkler Thank you.

J. Jacobs Now I know you can’t give away anything, but I just wanted to make sure that with the problems that Eddie is going through, you are going to be back for season three, right?

H. Winkler You know what, that’s my write-in campaign.

J. Jacobs Okay.

H. Winkler That’s what I’m, I’m lobbying for.

J. Jacobs Okay, well, I’ll have to write in for you then.

H. Winkler Thank you.

J. Jacobs You’re welcome.

Moderator And next we’ll go to the line of Kelly Dimarzio with Voice of TV; please go ahead.

K. Dimarzio Good afternoon.

H. Winkler Hi.

K. Dimarzio How are you today?

H. Winkler I’m so good, you?

K. Dimarzio Fantastic.

H. Winkler Where are you?

K. Dimarzio Indiana, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

H. Winkler Are you freezing?

K. Dimarzio Yes. Ha ha, we just had a very good round of snow and ice so everybody’s --.

H. Winkler I was just in Milwaukee and ah, it was coming right there.

K. Dimarzio Ah.

H. Winkler Yeah, it was cold.

K. Dimarzio Absolutely. Well, I was wondering if you have any new children’s projects coming in the works.

H. Winkler We finished the Hank Zipzer series; we did 17 novels, and honestly, yesterday at 2:48 in the afternoon, Lynne Oliver and I finished the first novel of our brand-new series for Scholastic, which will be out in 2012.

K. Dimarzio Oh, awesome.

H. Winkler So we’re writing a whole new series of for kids, very funny and the underpinning of it will be about bullying.

K. Dimarzio Fantastic, my daughter is a huge fan; she is just about to turn ten so --.

H. Winkler Does she read Hank?

K. Dimarzio Oh, yes.

H. Winkler Does it make her laugh?

K. Dimarzio Yes.

H. Winkler What is her name?

K. Dimarzio Ellie.

H. Winkler Ellie, would you tell Ellie that Hank sends his best regards?

K. Dimarzio I will tell her, absolutely.

H. Winkler Thank you.

K. Dimarzio And I was also wondering, I want to really thank you because you really helped me help a friend through learning about dyslexia, she struggled with it for quite a while. And when I was --.

H. Winkler … self?

K. Dimarzio Younger, herself. And felt very ashamed of it and so wasn’t aware about it and so I’ve learned about your issues and used that to help her. And I was wondering if you have any resources coming out that might --.

H. Winkler I don’t have any resources because in each area there are place, the university, a lot of universities have entire departments dedicated to kids who learn differently and they can lead you. What I know is this, one out of five children have some sort of learning challenge. It’s hereditary so it is, you’re born with it, it’s not your choice. You learn to negotiate it and what I have said and I will say over and over and over again, no matter how a child learns, their brilliance has nothing to do with that. Because it is difficult for them, it does not mean that they are not brilliant.

K. Dimarzio Exactly. Thank you so much.

H. Winkler You bet.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Lena Lamoray of lenalamoray.com.

L. Lamoray Hi Henry, it’s a pleasure to speak with you.

H. Winkler You, too, thank you.

L. Lamoray Can you talk about your progression as an actor from your first experience on a set and compare it to your Royal Pains experience, how much has changed and what elements are still the same?

H. Winkler Do you know what is interesting? I’ll tell you what has changed. The size of the camera, the size of the lights, aside from that, acting is acting is acting. The same process that I did in 1974 on Happy Days is the process that we do on Royal Pains in 2011. And that is absolutely the truth. Nothing changes because the doing of it, the art of it, the tradition of it is exactly the same. What has changed is on the set of Happy Days, which was Stage 19 on Paramount lot, the same stage that Lucy used when she did I Love Lucy. We had a camera that was so gigantic it took three people to move the dolly and now the camera is tiny compared and most of it is tape, which looks like film. You know when I did the movie, Click, with Adam Sandler, it was the first time that they used the Genesis, which was the tape camera designed to make movies. Now, today, they can shoot movies on your home, you know, camera that you take photographs as a family with, through Canon, I think. Isn’t that amazing?

L. Lamoray All right, yes. Now how would you describe Eddie’s relationship with Hank and Evan?
H. Winkler How would I describe it? Eddie wants Hank’s approval. Eddie has Paolo’s, Evan’s, approval and doesn’t yet completely appreciate it.

L. Lamoray Thank you so much for your time.

H. Winkler It is a pleasure to chat with you.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Karen Basista of thetwocents.com.

K. Basista Hi, Henry.

H. Winkler Hi.

K. Basista How are you?

H. Winkler I’m so good, you?

K. Basista Good. I guess my question goes back to your writing, and I work at a library and I was wondering if you could tell us how you got involved in writing books and what advice would you give a young person who wants to be a --?

H. Winkler Oh, that’s a good question. I got involved, somebody said to me, there was a lull in my acting career; who knew there would be a lull in your acting career. And he said to me, “Why don’t you write books for kids about your learning challenges?” And I didn’t immediately picked up on it because I literally thought I have nothing to say, I can’t write a book; I’m stupid. I was told I was stupid; I was lazy. Two years later he said the same thing and this time I said, “Okay,” and I met Lynne. He introduced me to Lynne Oliver and since 2003 we’ve been writing together. And how we write is I go to her office every day; it usually takes about two-and-a-half months to write a novel. They’re 133 pages long. And I walk around her office and she sits at the computer and we literally argue over every word. We literally write it together and what I would say to young people is this. There is more than one way to get to where you want to go; there’s always somebody who can help you do what you don’t know how to do. And just sit in front of your computer if you can use one and write five minutes a day; just write whatever comes to your mind. And pretty soon, you’d be shocked at what you have.

K. Basista Very good; thank you very much.

H. Winkler It is a pleasure.

K. Basista Thank you.

Moderator And next we’ll go to the line of Lynn DeVries of tvdramawatch.com.

L. DeVries Hi Henry, it’s nice to talk to you.

H. Winkler You, too, thanks.

L. DeVries Thanks. I’ve been a fan of yours since the Happy Days.

H. Winkler You show good taste.

L. DeVries Yes and you’re already answered a bit about how being on a TV series has changed, but of all the roles that you’ve taken on in movies and film and etc., what’s your favorite?

H. Winkler Wow, all right and this is the absolute truth, I don’t a favorite. Every time I think of a project, I always think, “Wow, this is great, no, no, no, this one is great.” It’s like my children; I don’t have a favorite. I’ll tell you what, I live with gratitude. I wanted to do this since I was seven; I’m actually still doing it and I earn a living doing this. I am so grateful I don’t even know how to explain it to you.

L. DeVries That’s beautiful.

H. Winkler And that is the truth.

L. DeVries Yeah.

H. Winkler If I were to give you two words, I would give you tenacity, which helps you get where you want to go and gratitude, which allows you not to be angry when you get there.

L. DeVries That’s wonderful. So is that the advice you would give to someone wanting to go into acting?

H. Winkler Well I would also give them the advice of preparation. Do you know there’s so many young people they think that it, I don’t know what has gotten into the culture, but they think that, oh, I can do that; I’m just going to do that. And I think if you’re going to do something you want to be there for longer than a minute. You have to think of yourself as a forest ranger. You plant a tree and you want to tend that tree for the next 75 years.

L. DeVries Oh, that’s excellent advice, wonderful. Well, thank you so much for talking to --.

H. Winkler Yeah, me, too.

L. DeVries Have a great day.

H. Winkler Thank you.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Lance Carter from the Daily Actor; please go ahead.

L. Carter Hey, Henry, wow, it’s a complete honor to talk to you.

H. Winkler Thanks, where are you, Lance?

L. Carter Ah, right now, I’m in San Diego, but I’m usually out of Los Angeles.

H. Winkler Oh, got you, all right.

L. Carter Yeah. First I just want to say you wrote a forward to a book called The Sitcom Career Book.

H. Winkler Yeah.

L. Carter It was honestly probably the most inspiring two pages I’ve read. Ah, it’s actually better than the actual book.

H. Winkler Oh, wow.

L. Carter Yeah so I just wanted to thank you for that.

H. Winkler This is probably too early to mention, but I love taking photographs, but I’m so dyslexic, I’ve never actually turned a knob in my life on a camera, but I took pictures while I fly-fished for trout. And those are coming out in a book on May 1st.

L. Carter Very cool.

H. Winkler Yeah, so that was inspiring to me that that would actually happen.

L. Carter I’ll be on the lookout for that.

H. Winkler Thanks.

L. Carter My question was taken by the last person, what’s your advice to actors--,

H. Winkler You know what? My advice to actors is think of yourself as pasta and throw yourself against the wall until it sticks.

L. Carter I like that; I’ve never actually heard that, that’s good. When you approach a scene, be it a comedy or drama, what is the main thing that you do first?

H. Winkler Ah, the first thing I do is. I have to read it very slowly because reading is still difficult for me. But what I look for is what do I want and from there, I then build. Because when you know what you want you can get it and you have to figure out how to get it with somebody else’s words on that page.

L. Carter Got ya, nice and again, thank you, you’ve made my day, thanks.

H. Winkler Oh, thank you so much.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Reg Seeton with thedeadbolt.com.

R. Seeton Hi Henry, how are you doing?

H. Winkler I’m good, how are you?

R. Seeton Good, good.

H. Winkler You know what, I did not hear your name.

R. Seeton My name’s Reg, like Reggie.

H. Winkler Reggie, hi.

R. Seeton Yeah, sitting here in Vancouver.

H. Winkler Yeah, hi.

R. Seeton Hi.

H. Winkler I spent a lot of time in Vancouver.

R. Seeton Ha, ha, I bet.

H. Winkler Yeah.

R. Seeton Given how Eddie faces a life in prison, how challenging was it to play what he’s forced to confront internally, but also maintain a sense of humor?

H. Winkler His sense of humor keeps him buoyant and I think if he did not con, put on the face on the world, he would explode and just splatter.

R. Seeton My follow-up to that would be now that your career’s evolved into playing a father figure, in what ways can you now relate to Tom Bosley in his job as an actor back then on Happy Days?

H. Winkler Well, he was a great dad, wasn’t he. I mean, he was a smart guy. I saw him on Broadway before I ever got to California. I saw him in Fiorello; I think he won the Tony. What I’ve always said is that he was our father figure for ten years in television, on television and he was our father figure in real life for 30.

R. Seeton And do you ever find yourself looking back and relating to what he went through as an actor?

H. Winkler I do, but I also look back and I relate to being a dad just from living through three grown children. You know, my youngest is 27, my daughter is 30 and my oldest is 39.

R. Seeton And just one last question for you. You talked about tenacity and gratitude.

H. Winkler Yes.

R. Seeton What kept you going throughout the years to not allow yourself to be stereotyped by the character --?

H. Winkler Well, there’s a phrase, that was first said in 1946, and my whole life, that, that when I give a speech, in public speaking, my speech is based on it. It’s if you will it, it is not a dream. And I now know that is the truth, the cosmic truth. It just works, at least in the western hemisphere, it is the truth

R. Seeton Thank you, Henry, app, appreciate it.

H. Winkler You bet.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Joe Hummel at Pop Culture Madness; please go ahead.

J. Hummel Hi Henry, thanks for talking to us today.

H. Winkler A pleasure.

J. Hummel I feel like I’ve known you as an actor since I was a kid; I can’t imagine 30 years ago that I’d be talking to you on the phone today.

H. Winkler Yeah, it’s nice.

J. Hummel I have two questions for you. The one is, you as a person you’re an actor, producer, director, author, you’re kind of a philanthropist, I don’t think you need to work. What gets you out of bed in the morning?

H. Winkler Well, all of that gets me out of bed. I do need to work because when you have a daughter with a credit card, trust me, you need to work. I love my job. I love my job.

J. Hummel Definitely cool. My, my question is this then. Regarding Eddie, he’s kind of a bad guy --.

H. Winkler Aw, aw, aw, aw, aw, he’s not bad.

J. Hummel Ha, ha, ha, I do ---.

H. Winkler He is misunderstood.

J. Hummel Ha, ha, ha.

H. Winkler His heart is in the right place; his mind and his heart are just not connected.

J. Hummel He, he, he. So what gets him out of bed in the morning?

H. Winkler What gets him out of bed?

J. Hummel Yes.

H. Winkler I think a good Ruben gets him out of bed, a really great sandwich.

J. Hummel He, he, he. Okay, well thank you.

H. Winkler A pleasure, thank you.

Moderator Thank you and next we’ll go to the line of Katie Schenkel of Clickclack; please go ahead.

H. Winkler Katie.

K. Schenkel Hi --.

H. Winkler Hi, Katie.

K. Schenkel It’s a pleasure, ah, speaking with you today.

H. Winkler Thank you.

K. Schenkel I have to ask. I am a huge fan of your work on Arrested Development. It’s one of my favorite shows, I still think it’s a shame it was canceled. Ah, I know the movie’s still in pre-production and it has been --.

H. Winkler Well let me just say this. All of the actors have said yes. We are completely dependent on Mitch Herwitz. It is when, Hugh just did a series with--.

K. Schenkel Will Arnette.

H. Winkler Now maybe that that is the nature of that series has changed, maybe he will now turn his attention to the movie.

K. Schenkel So you are planning on reprising the role of Barry Zuckercorn --.

H. Winkler I still have my chiffon underwear in the drawer waiting.

K. Schenkel One of, I’m glad to know that was yours.

H. Winkler It was, now, talk about understanding a character. I don’t know who the hell he is. All I do is say the words.

K. Schenkel You say them very well, I have to admit. You were always one of my favorite parts of the series.

H. Winkler Oh thank you.

K. Schenkel I did get to see the preview for this upcoming week’s episode and I noticed and may, and I think this has been through your character throughout the series, but Eddie seems a little George Bluth to me. I mean he has legal troubles, he kind of pits two sons against each other, maybe doesn’t always have the best attorneys and I just wondered if you’ve noticed that.

H. Winkler I never thought of that, but I want to tell you something; if I could be as good as that particular actor, I would be in heaven.

K. Schenkel Well, it’s been just a pleasure, again --.

H. Winkler What a great, being able to look at those two in that way. I think that’s real, I’m going to remember that.

K. Schenkel Hopefully then for next season, fingers crossed, you’ll be able to put that in and then you can credit me.

H. Winkler Absolutely.

K. Schenkel It’s been a pleasure, Mr. Winkler, and all the best.

H. Winkler Thank you.

Moderator Thank you and we’ll go to the line of Liz Henderson at Nice Girls TV; please go ahead.

L. Henderson Hi, Henry, thank you so much for taking the time this afternoon with us.

H. Winkler Such a pleasure.

L. Henderson I just wanted to know what has been your favorite episode of Royal Pains so far.

H. Winkler I don’t really have a favorite because I love all the different scenes; I love the scene in the hospital cafeteria that we just did. I love the scene at the table when I yell at Hank in the outdoor restaurant. I love the scene in my house when he came and he wouldn’t have dinner and I gave him a kiss on the forehead, which Mark was not ready for because I never rehearsed it. And you see his reaction and it is to die for.

L. Henderson I have to say that the scenes with Eddie and his son have been my personal favorite and the most heart wrenching at times --.

H. Winkler Would you please write that to the producers?

L. Henderson I will.

H. Winkler Thank you.

L. Henderson I will, and one last question. What’s going to be coming up for you right now; what’s next?

H. Winkler I’m going to do a movie in Boston; I just can’t tell you which one yet, starting at the end of March. I am going to go back to Royal Pains, which I’m so excited about. And writing the new series for Scholastic.

L. Schenkel Right, well I’ll be looking forward to all of that ….

H. Winkler Thank you.

C. Choe Hi, everyone, this is Cathy from New Media Strategies. In the interest of time I’d like to have everyone limit themselves to one question only, moving forward. Again, one question only, please, thank you.

Moderator We’ll go to the line of Robbie Solve at Spoiler TV.

R. Solve Hi, it’s great to be talking to you.

H. Winkler Thank you, Robbie, how are you?

R. Solve I’m very well; I’m in Detroit.

H. Winkler Ah, wonderful. … stand up as they say, Eminem, he is like in a class by himself.

R. Solve Yeah, yes he is; he absolutely is. It was great to hear your answer about Arrested Development; I’m such a fan of that show and your work on that show in particular. So I’m so glad that you would be happy to be involved in that when and if the movie moves forward. I was wondering, you said you were a fan of Royal Pains before you were on the show. I was wondering what other shows you’re a fan of.

H. Winkler You know what I love? I love The Good Wife.

R. Solve Oh yeah?

H. Winkler I think that is just a great show. The new, Chicago Code, I’m enjoying. What is the, the comedy with the family?

R. Solve Modern Family?

H. Winkler Oh, my god, Modern Family.

R. Solve I love that one, too.

H. Winkler That is, that’s a killer.

R. Solve Umhmm.

H. Winkler What else do I watch? I love Royal Pains, we talked about that yeah, and I like Rachel Maddow.

R. Solve Oh, yeah.

H. Winkler Yeah.

R. Solve That’s great. Well, I think you should guest on Modern Family.

H. Winkler You do, huh?

R. Solve That’d be great.

H. Winkler … Burrell with my son, a few years ago in Out of Practice, with Stockard Channing.

R. Solve Oh, okay.

H. Winkler Yeah and you know what else I like? You know Burn Notice?

R. Solve Yes.

H. Winkler I think that’s a really good show.

R. Solve Well, thank you so much; that’s great to hear, I like a lot of those, too.

H. Winkler A pleasure.

Moderator Thank you. We’ll go next to the line of Jamie Ruby of SciFiVision.com.

J. Ruby Hi, it’s Jamie, actually. Hi, it’s a pleasure to talk with you.

H. Winkler Hi, Jamie, how are you?

J. Ruby Good, you?

H. Winkler Fine thank you.

J. Ruby So one thing you haven’t talked about yet. I know you’ve produced a lot of it. Can you talk about working on McGuyver?

H. Winkler The greatest day of my producing life was when Richard Dean Anderson walked in the door. We had met every handsome, wonderful, star, leading man and then all of a sudden Richard Dean came in and he couldn’t read the script without his glasses. At that moment when he was searching in his bag for his glasses he got the part because he was flawed. He was not perfect; he was and then turned out to be an unbelievable leader on the set for seven years.

J. Ruby Okay, well thank you so much --.

H. Winkler I’ve got to tell you something else about it. The most difficult thing I’ve ever done as a producer, trying to find sources for McGuyverisms.

J. Ruby That’s great, well, it’s a treat so and it’s a great pleasure watching Royal Pains, too.

H. Winkler Oh, thank you.

J. Ruby Thanks a lot.

Moderator And we’ll go next to the line of Ken Gold at Mediablvd.

K. Gold Oh, thank you so much for your time today --.

H. Winkler You know what I’m thinking; I’m loving all the titles of everybody’s blogs.

K. Gold We’ve got some interesting names.

H. Winkler You really do. I don’t know that I could be that cle, ah, I think it’s great.

K. Gold Yeah, yeah, it’s really cool. Well, I guess there’s a lot of stuff … limits to one question. One thing that I think about you personally; you’re kind of a hero to our family, the work you do with, especially with cerebral palsy and Special Olympics.

H. Winkler Thanks.

K. Gold And, I have a son who’s got cerebral palsy so --.

H. Winkler ….

K. Gold I just wondered if you could talk a little bit about, I mean, you could just lend your name to it --.

H. Winkler No, you know what happened, when I was doing Happy Days, Leonard Goldenson was sill alive; the man who created ABC, who was the founder of ABC. His daughter had cerebral palsy and he came to me in my dressing room and he said, “Look, I want to do this telethon; we’ve done it for one year kind of on a trial basis. John Ritter does it because his brother has cerebral palsy; would you consider being our co-host?” And I said, “Okay, you know, the man who found the network that I’m on asked me a favor, I don’t think I’m going to say no.” So I went and then we did it for like ten years together, and, and I miss John every day, but that’s how I got involved with that telethon and with helping CP.

K. Gold Well that’s really great, again, thank you so much --.

H. Winkler A pleasure thanks.

Moderator. We’ll go next to the line of Rachelle Thomas of Right Celebrity; please go ahead.

R. Thomas Hi, Henry, how are you?

H. Winkler I’m so good, you?

R. Thomas Good. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us; this has been like the best call I ever went to.

H. Winkler Is that true?

R. Thomas Yeah, it’s been fantastic; I enjoyed the whole entire, it’s just been amazing to learn so much about you.

H. Winkler Thanks.

R. Thomas Um.

H. Winkler I’m five-six and a half….

R. Thomas I will put that and I do agree with the Burger Joint being the best cheeseburger in New York, by the way.

H. Winkler It’s great, isn’t it?

R. Thomas It’s fantastic.

H. Winkler Oh, my god.

R. Thomas I go there way too often.

H. Winkler Yeah, me, too.

R. Thomas So my question for you is do you have a dream project or dream role that you would like to either work on or play.

H. Winkler Wow, that’s, that is a good question. I would love to play a mute that I would have to communicate everything only through my body without words. So I’ve thought about that for a very long time. When I was younger, I wanted to be Zorro.

R. Thomas Really.

H. Winkler But I’ve given that up. So my dream really is to continue working and to be finished with acting before acting is finished with me.

R. Thomas Okay.

H. Winkler That is my dream.

R. Thomas Okay. I think that sounds good; I don’t think acting’s ever going to be finished with you.

H. Winkler You don’t?

R. Thomas No.

H. Winkler Thanks.

R. Thomas I don’t think so. Okay, I just get one question--.

H. Winkler Well, let me ask you a question, do you have another question?

R. Thomas Just a quick one, I just wanted to see how you got started into acting.

H. Winkler You mean as a professional?

R. Thomas Yeah.

H. Winkler … the old repertory theater --.

R. Thomas … did you --.

H. Winkler I made 120, 172 dollars a week as a, an actor at the Yale Repertory theater after graduating from the Drama School. And from there it just grew, but that was my very first professional job, June 30, 1970 in East Hampton, Long Island, at the John Drew Theater, the Yale Repertory Theater did a Summer of Story theater. And that was my very first job and I had a Pontiac Lemans with a bad oil tray or something like that. I wanted to beat it into submission, this car, brand-new, got it, didn’t drive, hated it.

R. Thomas That’s amazing.

H. Winkler That’s the fact about that.

R. Thomas That’s amazing, thank you again, so much for taking the time to talk to us today.

H. Winkler My pleasure.

B. Bernstein Moderator, sorry, this is Brad from USA, we have time for one more question.

Moderator All right, that will --.

H. Winkler Well how many people are there that didn’t ask.

Moderator We have one person that didn’t ask.

H. Winkler Brad, you’re right on the money.

Moderator So we’ll go to the line of April MacIntyre of Monsters & Critics.

A. MacIntyre Wow, Henry, it better be a good question, now I’m the last one on the pole here.

H. Winkler No, you know it doesn’t have to be that good. A, it’s good together, it’s nice.

A. MacIntyre Thank you so much for your time; I’ve enjoyed listening to all your questions and I think I’m older than most of the …that you’ve been talking to, but I’ve loved everything you done and my particular favorite, Night Shift, I love Chuck Lovely, Chuck Lovely was … has my heart.

H. Winkler You know Ron Howard said, “You can play either, just be in the movie.” And I thought, well, I just played the Fonz for a lot of years; I’m going to play Richie and that’s how I picked Chuck.

A. MacIntyre So I’m from New England and I know you shoot on Long Island --.

H. Winkler Yes.

A. MacIntyre for this wonderful series, Royal Pains and if you could pick a spot, now the Hamptons are very richy rich, but there’s lots of lovely little townships and what not on Long Island. If you could pick a spot, where would you be and what you film there at your location, where do you fall in love, any little small towns, areas that you could talk about right --?

H. Winkler You mean other than, well, I will tell you --.

A. MacIntyre … mansions of the Hamptons.

H. Winkler I will tell you that Boston is a great city.

A. MacIntyre Yes.

H. Winkler Because it is large enough to learn your independence and small enough to make your own. Connecticut as a whole is a gorgeous state. I love the lobster in Maine; New Hampshire is fun to drive through to get to the lobster --.

A. MacIntyre Ha, ha, ha, ha.

H. Winkler But I’ve often thought, I’ve asked my wife this, where would we live if we didn’t live here because I never really attached to LA. My children were born here, my dogs are Los Angelinos, I work here, but my heart is in New York. And my soul is in Montana where I fly-fish for trout.

A. MacIntyre Interesting, you don’t get anxietal like a lot of New Yorkers do in the Big Sky country?

H. Winkler No I don’t as a matter of fact, I am in heaven. My, the new book on May first is about what I have learned on the river that I apply to my life.

A. MacIntyre What’s the biggest fish you ever caught?

H. Winkler Last summer, I caught a trout that was 25 inches long and 6 pounds.

A. MacIntyre Wow.

H. Winkler And I’m still secretly screaming inside that I caught him and then of course I released him.

A. MacIntyre Oh, when you go to the aquarium, do you, in your mind you’re showing your kids the fish when they were little, did you ever think, “Well, that’s a good eating fish, that’s not a good eating fish?”

H. Winkler No, I never thought about that in my life.

A. MacIntyre Oh.

H. Winkler And now I think to myself fish is healthy except that what we put in the ocean, I’m not sure what are the fish eating. Like there’s that whole island in Indonesia, maybe, the size of Texas, that is only made of plastic.

A. MacIntyre Right, it’s caught in the Pacific current.

H. Winkler Oh, my god, what we have done to ourselves. That’s what I think.

A. MacIntyre Well you’ve done a lot of good for a lot of people who need it and hats off to you. And I enjoy your character so much on, on USA’s great show --.

H. Winkler Thank you so much.

A. MacIntyre Thank you.

H. Winkler You bet.

C. Choe Ladies and gentlemen, that will complete and conclude today’s session. I’d like to once again thank Henry for joining us and remind everyone to tune in to new episodes of Royal Pains on Thursdays at 9:00, 8:00 Central on USA network. Thanks again, enjoy the rest of your day.

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