10 Actors Who Were Too Scared To Accept Movie Roles

5. ...And Henry Winkler Was Scared Of Being Typecast By Grease

Jude Law Superman
CBS Media Ventures

Like Applegate, Henry Winkler was freaked out at the thought of being typecast, which resulted in him turning down one of the most iconic movies ever.

The role of Danny Zuko in 1978's Grease made a legend out of John Travolta, but at one point, the gig was offered to Winkler, who didn't hesitate in saying no.

At the time, Winkler was a small-screen regular on the ABC sitcom Happy Days, with his character "The Fonz" ranking as the most popular figure in the show - and it was this popularity that prompted him to pass on playing Zuko.

Because he was already known for playing a bad-boy greaser on Happy Days, Winkler feared that, if he accepted the Grease role, he would inevitably become typecast as this one particular persona. Given the clear similarities between Zuko and Fonzie, you can understand where he's coming from!

Winkler's reluctance left the door open for Travolta to swoop in and nab the part, and we can only imagine that he cries himself to sleep each night for missing out on this one.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.