“That burst of energy”: Scream stuntman recalls working with Henry Winkler on original film

It has been almost 30 years since the beginning of the Scream franchise.

While Ghostface has since terrorized and killed too many people to count, the stuntman behind the character needed a little push to come into his own.

At a recent GalaxyCon Q&A session, stuntman Lee Waddell recalled the time when he played the stunt double for the beloved character of Ghostface in Scream. He revealed that while he eventually got better at the role, he fumbled a lot initially as he was a fanboy of Henry Winkler.

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Stuntman Lee Waddell revealed how Henry Winkler helped jolt him back into action during the filming of Scream

During the recent session, stuntman Lee Waddell revealed how he had trouble performing initially because of his fanboy moment when he met Winkler on the sets of Scream.

Since he was unable to elicit the desired reaction, Winkler got into his character of the annoying principal to irritate Waddell into action.

Recalling the incident, Waddell said,

"I loved my time with Henry Winkler. Man, what a class act. That’s the only time out of my career at that point, and I’ve never done it since, he was the only guy that I ever fanboyed out on. He got on set and, you know, I grew up on Happy Days."

He continued:

"I’m supposed to stab him and I was so just fanboyed out that I wouldn’t give him the energy to react accordingly."

That's when Winkler sprang into action to help the stuntman perform well.

"[He was] literally hitting me in the shoulder,” he said. “And he starts kinda screwing with me, and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ Well, what he did was he went into the Himbry character, right, as the principal that everybody despised. And he starts effing with me. And he says, ‘I’m gonna suspend you’ … and he’s getting in my face."

Waddell quickly realised what Winkler was trying to do, as he said:

"And I realize what he’s doing, and in that moment, I clicked into Ghostface, and I got pissed. Righteously pissed. I’m like, ‘Oh, I get it.’ I snapped in and he starts screwing with me like this. I’m like, ‘Oh, I am going to gut you like a fish.'"

"I give him that burst of energy to get him to react. And it was a great take, and that’s what you guys see on the final cut."

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The iconic character of Ghostface has become an important cultural reference, so it is interesting to note that the character that jolted him into action was one of his first victims.

Read More: 'Scream Queens' showrunner believes the series was canceled too soon and is open to bring it back

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