When certain actors become friends and discover they work well together, they tend to work together a lot. Adam Sandler works with Kevin James frequently, but he’s far from the only one. Henry Winkler has appeared in four different Sandler movies, which you would think would make them close, but apparently when The Fonz does a favor for his friend, he doesn’t get much for his trouble.
In a recent appearance on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast, the host asked Winkler about his friendship with Adam Sandler. Ripa mentioned that, according to Chris Rock, Sandler had bought Maserati sports cars for his co-stars in the comedy Grown-Ups. Well, when Henry Winkler appeared in The Waterboy, he did not get a car as a thank-you. Winkler said…
OK, I did Waterboy. He called me up 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 L.A.’ It is now 11:30 at night. I go and I say, ‘Okay.’ I shave. I drive. I go. I sit. I get makeup until 3:30 in the morning. Do you know what I got? A cookie. I didn’t even get to keep my wardrobe.
Apparently, Henry Winkler wasn’t originally cast as Coach Klein in Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy. For whatever reason, the film needed a last-minute replacement, and Sandler asked Winkler to take over. He did so, apparently happily, but also at the very last minute.
I’m assuming Henry Winkler did get paid for his performance and didn’t only get a cookie out of the deal. A cookie as an extra thank you probably seemed nice at the time, but discovering that other people who work with Sandler get cars makes the cookie seem a lot less impressive.
Winkler would go on to appear in Click, Little Nicky and Don’t Mess with the Zohan. Winker has a better track record than other frequent Sandler collaborators. While these aren’t the best Adam Sandler movies, they’re also not the worst. Winkler hasn’t appeared in any of Adam Sandler’s Netflix movies though he tells Ripa he was in the audience for the comedy special Sandler did for Netflix.
For the record, if Adam Sandler ever reads this and wants to make it up to Henry Winkler, the actor doesn’t want a Maserati. He says the sports car is too low to the ground and he’d have difficulty getting in and out of it. Winkler would be happy with a small Lexus. And let’s be honest. Henry Winkler is an absolute legend, so somebody should buy the guy a Lexus.
I’m not saying Adam Sandler needs to buy all his co-stars sports cars. However, if that’s a thing he’s going to do, he should probably do it for the co-stars who completely save his butt who are also American icons. The Grown-Ups movies all came before Adam Sandler signed what certainly is reported to be a very lucrative deal with Netflix. The guy has the money, right?