‘Who’s the Boss?’ Star Danny Pintauro on Return to Acting

Danny Pintauro is giving “Star Trek: Discovery” credit for inspiring him to boldly go where he left his acting career.

After a 30-year hiatus, the “Who’s The Boss” actor is returning to the entertainment industry with a lead role in a Lifetime Christmas movie titled “A Country Christmas Harmony.” Speaking to People in a recent interview, Pintauro said a stellar kiss sowed the seeds of his decision.

While streaming an episode of “Star Trek: Discovery,” the actor watched in awe as two of the show’s openly gay characters (Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp) shared a kiss.

For Pintauro, the kiss was revitalizing— a signal that the entertainment industry was leaps and bounds away from the way it was in the '90s when he was forced to come out by the National Enquirer.

According to Pintauro, the kiss made him “want to participate” in acting again.

“Something just clicked,” he added. “I finally felt ready.”

During the mid-'80s, Pintauro was ushered into the American mainstream as a cast member of the popular sitcom “Who’s The Boss.” The hit comedy starred Tony Danza as the live-in housekeeper to a successful ad exec played by Judith Light. At the time, Pintauro charmed audiences with his portrayal of Jonathan Bower, the son of Light’s character Angela Robinson Bower.

“I had a lot of trauma from my time after ‘Who’s the Boss?’” he explained in his interview, which reflected on the darker struggles of his life and his recent return to acting.

Throughout the sitcom’s run, the show was nominated for various awards and won both a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award.

Yet, by the late '90s, however, Pintauro had retreated into the wings of entertainment. He left entertainment for Stanford University and studied to become a veterinarian. Still, in the years after the series wrapped, the actor struggled. He battled drug addiction, survived being publicly outed by a tabloid in 1997, and was diagnosed with HIV.

Reflecting on his early career, Pintauro said that for a time, he thought, “maybe I was a child actor, and that’s all I was supposed to be.”

Then, eventually, he came to another conclusion: “Possibilities,” he explained. “are out there,” and ultimately, he made a grab at breathing new life into his previous acting career.

Now, Pintauro is due to return to our television screens. This month, he will appear in “A Country Christmas Harmony” as the best friend of a flailing country music star (Brooke Elliott) whose career is in desperate need of a Christmas miracle.

There is also opportunity in his roots.

In June, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a “Who’s The Boss?” sequel was headed to Amazon’s Freevee. Though Pintauro did not confirm if he would return to the series (which will see Light, Danza, and Alyssa Milano step into the shows of their old characters), the actor said he had been involved in conversations about an appearance.

Like quicksilver, the nature of the entertainment industry is ever-changing, and nothing is guaranteed. Still, Pintauro is optimistic about his recent foray into acting again and hopeful that he’ll find success.

“I can feel it in my gut,” he explained.

“A Country Christmas Harmony” will debut Friday, Nov. 18, at 8/7c and will be available for streaming the next day.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com