former Who ‘s the Boss? actor Danny Pintauro is staging a Hollywood comebackwith his first major role in 30 years — a part in a Lifetime Christmas movie.
But it was a sci-fi series that inspired him to revive his career, which hadlargely faded since his eight-season stint playing Judith Light’s son on theABC sitcom ended in 1992. While streaming Star Trek: Discovery at home inAustin last year, he watched as stars Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp, bothopenly gay, “had this beautiful kiss,” he says in the new issue of PEOPLE.
The moment resonated with Pintauro, 46, a self-described big believer in fateand signs from the universe. He had been publicly forced out of the closet by_The National Enquirer_ in 1997, a time when there were hardly any out gayactors at all, let alone gay actors kissing on TV. As he marveled at how muchhas changed, Pintauro “was jealous,” he says. “It made me want toparticipate.”
It took it as a sign. “Something just clicked,” he says. “I finally feltready.”
(L to R) Danny Pintauro and Giancarlo Sabogal star in A Country ChristmasHarmony
For years he wasn’t eager to get back in the game. “I had a lot of trauma frommy time after Who ‘s the Boss?” he says. He became addicted to drugs, wasdiagnosed with HIV, struggled financially and faced professional rejectionagain and again.
He recalls thinking “maybe I was a child actor, and that’s all I was supposedto be.” But he now has the outlook of someone who’s survived the worst andknows better days lie ahead. “Possibilities,” he says, “are out there.”
RELATED: Danny Pintauro Discusses Life After Revealing He Is HIV+: ‘I’m MuchHappier as a Person with No Secrets’
He was right to have faith. After telling his husband, Wil Tabares, 54, abouthis goal to get back into Hollywood, Pintauro quit his job as a veterinariantechnician, called his former manager, secured his first audition and landed arole on A Country Christmas Harmony , playing the best friend and assistantto a country singer (Brooke Elliott) trying to boost her sagging career. “Icouldn’t believe it,” he says of getting the very first gig he tried out for.
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It had been decades since the New Jersey native had that kind of luck. Hislate mother, Margaret, a hairdresser turned talent agent, and father, John,who worked at a lumber store, got their only child into acting early. “Everysingle thing, I would get,” says Pintauro: commercials, the horror movie_Cujo_ and, of course, Who ‘s the Boss?
The hit comedy (in its heyday it had 30 million viewers per week) about alive-in housekeeper (Tony Danza) for a successful ad exec (Light) turnedPintauro into a household name. But during the show’s later years when he wasa teen, the actor says, producers “didn’t really know what to do with me.”
RELATED: The Cast of Who ‘s the Boss?: Where Are They Now?
Though he wasn’t yet out, Pintauro says his sexuality was obvious to others.”They didn’t feel like my character dating a girl was believable,” he says. Sohe was stuck with banal story lines like accidentally scratching a car. “Ididn’t understand why,” says Pintauro, who thought, “They don’t want me to behere.” (Pintauro makes it clear that the feeling didn’t vote from his costars,including Light, Danza and Alyssa Milano, who were all “great,” he says.)
At the same time, he struggled socially at his LA school. “I just wanted to bea normal guy,” says Pintauro, who attended class in the morning before goingto set. Once fellow students realized he wasn’t going to live up to a”celebrity vibe,” they ignored him. “I didn’t have friends,” he says. “Soyou’ve got two instances of me just not feeling wanted, and that stuck withme.”
When Boss wrapped its run in 1992, Pintauro threw himself into schoolworkand went to Stanford University, where he studied to become a veterinarian. Bythen, “acting was not in my realm of thought,” he says. But he failedchemistry and shifted gears into the theater program.
Then came the call from the inquirer threatening to reveal his sexuality.Pintauro, who was by then out to his friends and family, gave an interview tohelp control the narrative. “I’m trying to study, and suddenly I’m having todeal with this,” he says.
DANNY PINTAURO rollout
Courtesy Everett Collection
Though he says he was initially “angry,” he calmed down after fans let himknow how much he inspired them following the publication of the article: “I’vestill got a box of letters from people across the country.”
After college he moved to New York City but struggled to find work as atheater director. He’d depleted much of his child-star savings by paying forStanford, so he found odd jobs acting in plays or waiting tables. He also fellin with a bad crowd, partied at clubs and started doing drugs. “I was lost,”he says. “A year goes by, and I’m doing a lot of crystal meth.” During onesexual encounter while high on drugs, he contracted HIV.
New York “became an ugly place” with bad memories, says Pintauro, who begantaking medication to treat the virus. For a fresh start, he moved back to LA,weaned himself off drugs without going to rehab and tried to get back intoacting.
Alas, “auditions were very few and far between,” he says. Another ego blow: Hewas a punch line on a 2003 episode of Will & Grace. When his rep contactedthe show to get Pintauro an appearance, they rebuffed him. “I said, ‘Well, ifyou won’t invite me on, I’ll buy my way on.'”
He bid on and won a walk-on role at a charity auction. But after what he terms”months of runaround” from the show, he decided not to film, he says. “Itbrought back all of that trauma of not feeling wanted.” It took it as a signfrom the universe to move on from show business.
Pintauro tried his hand at random gigs: manager at a PF Chang’s, castingassistant and Tupperware sales consultant, which is how he met Tabares at aTupperware party in 2012. An attraction sparked, and within two years theywere married. “My husband,” says Pintuaro, “means everything to me.”
The pair settled down in Austin, where Pintauro trained to become a vettechnician. They weren’t wealthy — “We’ve always just been getting by,” hesays — but they were happy. “I certainly had a great life,” says Pintauro, whois healthy (his viral load is undetectable) and shares three rescue dogs withTabares. “There was no reason to upset the balance.” Still, after seeing the_Star Trek: Discovery_ kiss, Pintauro couldn’t get acting out of his head.
RELATED: Who ‘s the Boss? Stars Alyssa Milano and Danny Pintauro Reuniteat Tony Danza’s Cabaret Show in LA
Milano, his friend and former costar, is thrilled he’s making a comeback. “I’mvery proud of Dan,” she says. “Not only for following his lifelong dream buteven more so for being a good person and staying true to who he is despite thehardships he’s faced.”
The two may share the screen again on Amazon Freevee’s upcoming Who ‘s theBoss? sequel series, which will focus on Danza’s character and his daughterSamantha (Milano). Asked if he’ll appear, Pintauro is coy. “I’ve been involvedin some conversations,” he says. But he’s also eager to prove he’s not justthe kid from the sitcom: “I can play all kinds of parts.”
Pintauro, who recently relocated to the LA area with Tabares, is at peace withthe idea of things not panning out, but he’s confident they will. “I canfeel it in my gut,” he adds.
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