Danny Pintauro - The Oregonian - 10/4/2000

Pintauro Graduates to Career on Stage

The former child star takes on the role of a street hustler in a touring play

by Holly Johnson
Special to The Oregonian

Dan Pintauro is probably best known for his eight-year run as Jonathan Bower on the ABC television series "Who's the Boss?" But being a child actor on television, he has learned, is a far cry from performing a 90-minute one-man show.

In James Still's "The Velocity of Gary, Not His Real Name," Pintauro, 24, plays a gay street hustler, who has a heart of gold but is looking for love in all the wrong places. It's the kind of part most actors don't land as they're beginning stage careers.

"Velocity," directed by , marks Pintauro's New York off-Broadway theater debut: He is currently touring it in the United States, with a London appearance possible later on.

Born in New Jersey, Pintauro did commercial acting and modeling at age 2. At 3, he landed a role on the soap "As the World Turns" and literally grew up on that show for the next five years. At 6, he appeared in "," the Stephen King horror flick, and a year later he landed the part on "Who's the Boss?" His family moved to California because of the job, and later Pintauro attended Stanford University, where he earned a degree in theater arts.

Today, he stands at a career crossroads, immersed in "Velocity," with its attendant challenges of a one-man show.

Q: Describe "The Velocity of Gary" and the character you play.

A: It's a big task, a real challenge for an actor... Gary speaks in the third person. He also talks in the voices of other people. There's the hard-edged version of him and the softer side. Gary's definitely not a man yet, he's a kid, like 16 or 17 through most of the show. He's one of those kids that lived somewhere in the Midwest maybe and ran away from home, decided to live in New York and manages to survive on the street. Considering all the things that happen to him, you're very surprised that he does. You're also surprised about how he walks away from it all with the sense of hope. As the play goes on, he definitely loses his outer shell and lets you in a little bit more...

Q: This must be a huge switch from television acting.

A: Yeah, it's definitely completely different. Being a sitcom actor is so easy. You do your lines and walk off. Being an actor on television isn't being an actor. But being able to just blast right into something like this mean that I've got it in me to begin with. Still, I'm not sure acting is what I want to do the rest of my life.

Q: Where DO you go from here?

A: That's a good question. I'm just at a weird place in my life. After this, I'm putting acting and directing completely aside. I may come back to them eventually, but it has to be from a place of discovery that I really do want to do either one of them. I've been working on "Velocity" on and off this last year, but I've focused on other things, too, in my life since January. I'm trying to discover who I am. When I get back to New York, I'm going to focus on teaching... Still, this show has been a growing experience.

"The Velocity of Gary, Not His Real Name" plays 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 5 p.m. Sunday. Contains nudity. Theater! Theatre! 3430 S.E. Belmont St., $16-$18, 503-239-5919.