Danny Pintauro was a child star of the classic sitcom Who’s the Boss?, which ran through the ’80s and early ’90s. He played the nerdy, sensitive kid Jonathan Bower, one of the central child characters in the show. However, Pintauro, now 50, says acting opportunities are scarce and that he has taken on another job to supplement his income.
The entertainment business has been “slow,” claims Danny Pintauro
The actor recently revealed on Instagram that he has been working as an Amazon Flex delivery driver during what he considers a slow period in the entertainment industry. He posted a photo on Instagram of his car filled with packages to be delivered and stated in the caption that he is “figuring out” how to keep his acting hopes alive while doing odd jobs.
“Working hard while not working.” 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.
Explaining the rationale behind picking delivery shifts as a side hustle, he told People that film and television production has dropped significantly in Los Angeles. He claimed that the number of TV pilots has decreased dramatically from 60–100 in earlier years to just a handful.
“Since 2021 alone, television production in Los Angeles has dropped dramatically, and even pilot season is a fraction of what it used to be,” he said, adding that fewer projects get made with recognizable names, as the entertainment business has become more “risk-conscious,” and thus other working actors are left with less work at their disposal.
“What a lot of actors are feeling right now is that as fewer projects get made, the business becomes more risk-conscious, and more of the work clusters around recognizable names from the top down. Unfortunately, that means less of the work trickles down to the broader pool of working actors,” he noted.
He further claimed that people massively overestimate the money he made from the hit show Who’s the Boss, and even those residuals were spent on certain investments and on his college education and other expenses in his younger years. “It’s not like there’s just been endless money sitting there,” he stated.
Nevertheless, he is not giving up on his dreams, as he is still auditioning and teaching acting classes. “And this chapter is all about auditioning, teaching for Young Actors Theatre Camp, building my coaching studio, The Resonant Actor, creating custom book nooks for clients, and driving for Amazon Flex to supplement my income,” he highlighted.
The actor opened up about this chapter in life to show that there was no shame in hustling hard in any phase of life and doing whatever it takes to keep the dream of acting alive. Safe to say, most of us are rooting for him to find his footing again in the entertainment industry and get more work so that he can once again reach the heights of fame that he once had as a child star.
