Danny Pintauro wants to remove the stigma around former child stars entering the regular workforce.
The 50-year-old opened up about the realities of “gig acting” and taking everyday jobs between roles, on the June 22 episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast.
“We have to do what we have to do to survive. We have got to keep moving as humans,” he said. “We’re all doing it. I am not different from you in that sense.”
Pintauro began his career in the 1980s with roles on the soap opera “As the World Turns” and the horror film “Cujo.” But he’s best known for playing Jonathan Bower on “Who’s the Boss?” opposite Tony Danza, Alyssa Milano and Judith Light. He was 8 years old when the sitcom premiered in 1984 and remained on the show until it ended in 1992.
But today, Pintauro says he is working as an Amazon delivery driver.
“It’s one of the five different gig jobs that I’m doing right now,” he said. “We’re gig actors. Acting is the gig. It’s one of the six gigs.”
Since “Who’s the Boss?” ended, Pintauro has worked as a talent agent, casting director, veterinary technician and manager for a PF Chang’s restaurant. He returned to the entertainment industry about four years ago but said finding consistent acting work has been difficult.
“I don’t make money from residuals,” Pintauro said.
Pintauro recalled working a retail job at Gap near the end of his run on “Who’s the Boss?” and becoming the subject of unwanted tabloid attention.
“Somebody brought in a hidden camera and took pictures of me folding clothes and said, ‘He’s already lost all his money,'” he explained.
More recently, Pintauro has shared updates about his Amazon delivery work on Instagram, including photos of himself loading packages into his vehicle.
“The entertainment business has been soooo slow, so I’ve been doing what a lot of people do – figuring it out, showing up, and taking the work that’s there while I keep building the work I really want. 38 packages today! There’s no shame in staying in motion,” he wrote in an April post.
“I’ve been trying to explain to the general public just how bad it is because they just don’t understand,” Pintauro said of the current state of the industry. “It’s been eye-opening to a lot of people to realize how awful things are.”
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