‘80s Star-Turned-Amazon Driver Says Actors ‘Working Regular Jobs’ Is Seen as a ‘Downfall,’ but Says It's Needed 'in This Economy'
‘80s Star-Turned-Amazon Driver Says Actors ‘Working Regular Jobs’ Is Seen as a ‘Downfall,’ but Says It's Needed 'in This Economy'
Meredith WilshereSat, May 23, 2026 at 10:58 AM UTC
0
Danny Pintauro in 'Who's the Boss?'; Danny Pintauro now
Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Danny Pintauro/Instagram
-
Danny Pintauro shared that working as an Amazon Flex driver allows him the flexibility to attend acting auditions
The former child star clarified misconceptions about residuals, explaining they don't provide lifelong financial security
Pintauro returned to acting in 2022 after years as a vet technician and overcoming challenges from being a child actor
Danny Pintauro recently shared a photo of himself working an Amazon Flex shift, but never expected the gig to cause such a stir.
The Who's the Boss actor told Fox News that he “did not expect the photo to become anything, especially not as big of a story as it has become."
“I'm not surprised that the more curious, of course, there's always been this sort of fascination with actors working regular jobs and sort of people reading into that, and a lot of times it's sort of looked at as like a downfall, but I think we've moved away from that,” Pintauro told the outlet.
Danny Pintauro in 1987
Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
“I feel like people have really connected to the story, which I really love, but I think that that connection is partly because we all know what it means to do what we've got to do, especially in this economy, at this time," he added.
Pintauro emphasized that the cost of living has increased over the years, and he — like countless others — has been feeling the pressure.
“We've all got to do multiple jobs, we've all got to work in any way we can to sort of make sure that we provide for ourselves and for our families," he said.
Pintauro starred in Who's the Boss? as Jonathan Bower for the show's entire run, from September 1984 to April 1992. He was on the show alongside Judith Light, Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano, all of whom he told PEOPLE in 2022 were “great.”
Advertisement
It became one of the most popular series of the 1980s, but Pintauro left the television industry to attend Stanford, from where he graduated in 1998.
Pintauro, who wed husband Wil Tabares in 2014, had been working as a vet technician in Austin, Texas, before returning to acting. In 2022, he landed his first major role in years in Lifetime's A Country Christmas Harmony.
“I think 10 years of really exploring my demons and getting rid of some of the childhood actor stuff that had come up over the years, and just sort of figuring out who I am, and how I am as an adult, I had finally reached a place where I really was comfortable there,” Pintauro shared with Fox.
Once he decided he was ready to return to acting, he quit his job and began working as an Amazon Flex driver so he could make his own schedule around audition times.
In the same interview, Pintauro also dispelled rumors about the amount of money he still makes from Who's the Boss? residuals. He noted that “pretty much everyone misunderstands what residuals mean.”
'Who's the Boss?' cast in 1984
Credit: Bob D'Amico/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
“People always assume that if they recognize you, you must be financially set for your life, and that's just not how it works," he said. "There's this very inflated idea of what residuals, especially residuals from that era from the '80s, looked like we were working in a television model that, like DVD compilations, didn't exist, so there's nothing in the contract to stipulate what to do if that should come up."
“A lot of people think that every time it airs, I'm getting money from that airing, but that's not the case," he continued. "The money that did come in from the show was great, but I used a hefty amount of that to pay for Stanford, and then supporting myself for the years after the show ended, so you know there just isn't a pile of money sitting around these days.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
