Henry Winkler confesses 'debilitating' self-consciousness

Henry Winkler has confessed to experiencing "debilitating" self-consciousness.

The Barry star credited his survival as an actor to "the therapy that I went through", in a frank interview with the What Matters with Liz podcast.

"If I wasn't present in my life, I now know I could not have done Gene Cousineau on Barry without the therapy that I went through," Henry, 80, told host Liz Vaccariello, referring to his role as an egotistical acting teacher on the popular Netflix comedy.

Henry, who first found fame playing Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli on the 1970s sitcom Happy Days, used the metaphor of a block of cheese to explain his therapy journey.

"I'm a block of Swiss cheese with a lot of holes," he quipped. "And I am working on becoming a block of cheddar - it has no holes. That is a lifelong journey. Believe me, I am not ched yet."

The best part about undertaking years of psychological therapy, Henry said, was the fact it had helped him shake off a lifelong anxiety about what the world thought of him, explaining he now cared "a little less what people think".

"I have fought to jump that hurdle," Henry reflected. "Because that is debilitating, and so hard to get over. When you think that they must be thinking about what you just did and it could be the furthest thing from their mind. Holy mackerel!"