Danny Pintauro - QSF - September 2000

[DANNY]

CLOSE UP

by Robert Sokol; image Ezequiel De La Rosa

From golden-curled Shirley Temple, to Pepsi-shilling Hallie Eisenberg, the entertainment industry has frequently had a love 'em and leave 'em relationship with child stars. It is a brief affair because, like puppies and kittens, these actors don't stay young and adorable for ever. A lucky few, including Elizabeth Taylor, make a graceful transition to adult stardom. Others create a grown-up stark and then quickly recede to the trivia books. Television is a particularly fertile breeding ground for young performers. Some soaring successes, like Ron Howard and Rick Schroeder come to mind, as do some well-publicized and scandalous disasters.

Picking his way through this mine field is Danny Pintauro, moppet no more. A successful actor for twenty-one of his twenty-four years, Pintauro spent five years tugging heart strings on As the World Turns before he joined forces with Judith Light, Tony Danza, Katherine Helmond and Alyssa Milano (another charmed survivor of childhood stardom) for eight seasons of sitcom bliss on Who's the Boss? Along the way he made some films (most notably Stephen King's Cujo,) attended Stanford Universityand was outed by The National Enquirer. This fall he graces San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre's stage in James Still's one-man play The Velocity of Gary, Not His Real Name, directed by . A bicentennial baby, Pintauro looks forward to the day when he can abandon the child star image.

QSF: You've been an actor almost all of your life. How have you managed to avoid becoming showbiz road kill?
DP: A lot of it had to do with going to school as normally as possible even when I was working. I think some child actors get into trouble because when their show ends they don't realize that they're not going to be working again right away. Very few go right into something else, especially if their television character has been closely tied to their personality. It just doesn't work. Casting directors have a hell of a time trying to see you as anything but the character you just played. All of a sudden these kids have to finish school and try to build a life and there may be nothing waiting for them. They think, "Oh, I'm this famous actor. Let's just go get some more work." When that doesn't happen, what are they left with? The difference for me is that the day after Who's the Boss? ended I went to school full-time.

QSF: It sounds like you tried to incorporate a high level of normalcy in your life.
DP: Very much so. I just wanted to be a regular kid. I never did celebrity stuff. I did a lot of charity events, but I was never one to hang out in some bar in LA. That was just not my scene. I wanted to go skateboarding with my friends.

QSF: You did have that nasty Circus of the stars habit.
DP: Hey now, I had a good time with that. The outfit was absolutely tragic, but I had fun with the show. I really enjoyed it because I've been a gymnast most of my life. I did gymnastics as a kid, so I felt right at home.

QSF: How was it for someone with your resume to become a full-time drama student at Stanford University?
DP: When I first got to Stanford University there were about two weeks where everyone seemed to want to know that I was there. The same thing happened when Chelsea [Clinton] arrived. We all had to see that she was physically there. Once we saw that it really was her we moved on. I made an effort to blend in. I didn't take on the celebrity thing. I didn't start drama classes at Stanford University until halfway through my college education because when I first got there I was utterly convinced that I wasn't supposed to be an actor. I went to Stanfordwanting to be a veterinarian. I focused on pre-med, started taking chemistry, and discovered that I can't do math to save my life. There went the veterinary work.

QSF: Let's talk about Gary.
DP: Who? (laughs)

QSF: The Velocity of Gary is essentially a monologue.
DP: Yes. A forty-eight page monologue.

QSF: How hard is that?
DP: It's really hard. Largely because the way Gary speaks is very stream of consciousness. There are chapters within the story but he never really tells a full story. He'll start telling one story and then something in that story will remind him of another story and he'll start telling the second story and then go back to the first story. It's all over the place, and I had to spent a lot of time figuring out what it was that made him think. It was difficult, and it became something of a challenge to make the audience see those transitions. One of the really great things about the play is letting the audience see how Gary's mind works.

QSF: Have you ever caught yourself in a verbal cul-de-sac while performing the show?
I did once in New York. We were in a rush to set up one night at the Duplex. Sometimes there were three different shows a night and the act before ours frequently ran over, so there was very little time for us to set up. One night ran particularly late and I had to set up props and costumes. There was almost no time for me to prepare because I am on stage dancing and doing a striptease when the audience walks in. (Laughs) It's a great way for them to get to know me and the character before the show starts.

QSF: I would say so
DP: I don't go all the way, but I get pretty far. This night I got four or five pages into the piece and I had no idea what came next, so I walked off stage to look at my script. Fortunately it was opened to just the page I needed. I was only off stage for 20 seconds, but I was so mad at myself for not taking time to prepare I swore I'd never let it happen again.

QSF: You said recently that Gary was about being in love with hope.
DP: He's a stupid kid in a lot of ways. He's had an extremely awful life. A lot of crap has happened to him and he talks about it in the play. Still, you never get the sense that he is anything but hopeful for the best in his life. At the end of the show you don't know what's going to happen to him next, you really do believe that he's going to be alright. He doesn't seem to be jaded or bitter, yet, from the audience perspective, with all the things that happen to him, you have to wonder why not.

QSF: You seem to be doing more theater than film or television now. Is that by design?
DP: Right now it is. After two years in the Stanford Universitydrama department I wanted to find a place that was very theater oriented, and that's New York. I prefer theater. It's so intelligent, so immediate, and I appreciate a live audience. I would do films again, but I don't know if I would do television. It depends on the project. It has to be challenging; something that will stretch me as an actor, as a director, as a human being. If that happens to be on television, great!

QSF: There are several gay themed titles in your recent credits.
DP: There are, but it's not intentional. I've been auditioning for all sorts of things but I haven't made a conscious effort to chose gay subjects. I mean, it's not going to be easy for me to play a football jock or some Romeo action hero. An actor can't play every part. A big, burly guy couldn't play Gary and have it be believable. [For me] it's not about being a child actor or a gay actor. I'm short and thin and that is going to limit some of the parts that are open to me.

QSF: Tell us what it was like to be outed in The National Enquirer?
DP: (Laughs) It was harmless, actually. I was not surprised, but I was very angry at first. I figured it was just typical of that kind of publication. I had been out to my family and friends for quite a while, so no one important in my life was shocked. I certainly wasn't hiding it. I did have to give some thought to my career as an out gay actor, but I'm very comfortable with my sexuality. In fact, the article was well done, and they were very kind. I figured they were going to run the story whether I talked to them or not, so why not help them quote me accurately. It went surprisingly well. I was at Stanford University at the time, so my mind was on school and not much else. I did a few interviews and then it was all over and I was back to studying for finals.

QSF: How do you feel about reputedly gay actors who don't, or won't, come out?
DP: I don't think you should do anything that will cause someone to lose their job or security, whether you are an actor or an office worker. When you are a celebrity, and the rumor mill churns, and it becomes obvious that you're probably gay, you need to consider the people who might see you as a role model. That kid in the Midwest will ask "How can it be OK for me to come out if my favorite movie or TV star can't do it?" It's a double-edged sword, but I feel that if you are a celebrity you should really be thinking about the people you are influencing. Especially the kids, because they are the most vulnerable, and without positive role models they are left with nothing. I can speak from experience, because so much of the mail I got when I first came out said "I've been a fan of yours for so long and I can't believe you've just done this. I'm so happy because finally there's someone else like me in the world."

QSF: What would you say to a young gay fan struggling with coming out?
DP: A lot of me wants to say if you're under eighteen and still dependent on your parents for a home and education, and you don't think it would go well, then don't do it. Learn to be comfortable with yourself. That is so much more important than telling the people around you. You don't need your parents' or your friends' approval to be happy with yourself and your sexuality. You need to do that for yourself. If you can do that and still manage to stay at home and utilize those resources and get an education, then do it. I just don't ever want to see someone run away or be tossed out on the street for being honest. It still happens all too often.

QSF: Where do you see your life heading?
DP: That's a messy one because I'm like any twenty-four year old out of college -- CLUELESS! I'm still dealing with the conflict of whether I'm supposed to be an actor or a director. I'm acting because I enjoy it and can do it well, yet part of me is waiting for that "other thing" I'm supposed to do with my life to come forward to show itself. You really catch me on a precipice; I haven't had that defining moment yet. I haven't had that epiphany.