Photo: Leon Bennett/WireImage
Henry Winklerhas been acting in Hollywood for just shy of five decades, and he’s not planning on stopping any time soon.
In the wake of his recent career highs — includingwinning his first Primetime Emmy Awardin 2018 for his supporting performance asBarry’s Gene Cousineau — the 77-year-old actor says he doesn’t have a timeline when it comes to retirement.
“I have no license for that,” Winkler told PEOPLE of his future plans at the season 4 premiere ofBarryin Los Angeles on Sunday. “I just have that feeling. I will stop when I have to stop.”
TheBill Hader-led dark comedy series has secured Winkler three Emmy nominations, including most recently at this year’s awards, and he says the show ranks just as high for him as his previous career-altering roles — like Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli inHappy Days.
“This has got to be right up there,” he says of his role as the acting teacher and mentor. “I mean, oh my goodness. This was a gift from the heavens. Truly.”
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Winkler’s covered quite a few bases since getting his start as Fonzie on the hit sitcom in 1974, and he says that it’s the constant challenge of understanding a character that keeps the joy in acting for him all these years later.
“It’s the puzzle,” he tells PEOPLE of his career. “Taking all these pieces and making a human being. Every scene, every year, it is the puzzle.”
The show’s impressive slate of cast members doesn’t hurt, either. “It takes you to another place,” he says of working alongside Hader,Anthony Carrigan, Sarah Goldberg and more.
“Being on this show, it gives you a tremendous amount of pride,” Winkler adds.
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“This is where Bill wanted to be,” Winkler tells PEOPLE of the series star. “Saturday Night Livewas a deviation from his dream and I watched him from the very first season to now. He directed all eight. He is the creator, producer, writer, actor, and now director of all of them. Not a ripple in the water. Not a moment where you think, ‘Oh my God, he’s stressed. I’m stressed. Oh my Lord.'”
TheArrested Developmentalum praised Hader, 44, as “instantly funny,” adding, “Oh my God, I adore him.”
Though acting has kept him plenty busy, Winkler also took some time to reflect on his impressive, decades-long career for his upcoming memoirBeing Henry.
The process of diving into his life and memories — the book focuses on his career highs and lows, his difficult childhood and the pressure he faced afterHappy Days— was “so scary,” he tells PEOPLE.
“It is so scary,” Winkler says. “What happens if they’re not interesting? What happens if I left something out? What happens if I didn’t mention one child better than the other? I’ll be dead, if not fromBarry, then from my kids.”
Though daunting, the writing process allowed Winkler to reflect on his life, and he says he realized he was “less in touch with my authentic self.”
“The journey allowed me to connect,” he said, “and it is freeing.”
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Barryairs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.
source: people.com
