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What's a surefire way to throw a slasher off his game? Get Henry Winkler, of course! 

Winkler, best known for his role as Fonzie on Happy Days, appeared in Wes Craven's iconic slasher movie, Scream, as Principal Himbry. At GalaxyCon 2025's Scream Q&A, stuntman Lee Waddell, who played Ghostface in the first Scream film, recounted his experience of acting in front of one of his heroes. In perfect Henry Winkler fashion, Waddell ended up getting some top-tier actor-to-actor treatment on par with Winkler's character as an acting coach on HBO's Barry. 

"So he just gets on set, and I just geek out, I'm like, '[fanboy noises],'" Waddell began. "I was just so fanboyed out that I wouldn't give him the energy to react accordingly... So he takes me off and we're just talking behind the scenes, because I would come out busting from behind the door. And he starts doing this, [jabbing forwards with his arm], literally hitting me in the shoulder. And he starts kinda screwing with me, and I'm like, 'What are you doing?' Well, what he did was he went into Himbry's character, right, as the principal that everybody despised."

"And he starts effing with me. And he says, 'I'm gonna suspend you, gimme some energy,' and he's getting in my face. And I realize what he's doing, and in that moment, I click into Ghostface, and I got pissed. Righteously pissed... And I'm like, 'Oh, I am going to gut you like a fish.' So Wes [Craven] yells 'Action,' and I lay into [Winkler], I don't hit him physically, right, but 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," Waddell said. 

Without even rewatching the scene, I know exactly the shot and take that Waddell is referring to. When Ghostface jumps out of nowhere and ambushes Principal Himbry, it's legitimately one of the most shocking moments in the franchise (if you ask me!). Because let's be real, who among us was expecting to see the Fonz get iced by a teen slasher villain?

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's weekly explorations of the best opening moments of horror cinema in The Coldest Open, and then check out:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.