After nearly five decades in show business, Tony Danza is still finding ways to surprise himself.
His latest comedy, Re-Election, casts the legendary actor as Stan, the father of the emotionally stunted middle-ager Jimmy (played by the film’s writer and director, Adam Saunders), who re-enrolls in high school to try to win a long-lost race for class president. An outlandish premise? Maybe, but at the heart of the film lies something universally relatable: the ache of unfinished business.
“There’s an old saying that if you’re at war with the past, you have no future. It’s absolutely true, but it’s very hard not to go back,” Danza, 74, exclusively tells Us Weekly of why he was drawn to the project. “I’ve made some huge decisions that now I look back on and say, ‘I’m not sure about that one.’ You can’t help but wonder what might have been. … And that’s what we’re [talking about] in this movie.”
It was Saunders’ ability to capture that timeless theme of regret, Danza says, that hooked him into the role of Stan.
“It sits somewhere in that lexicon of older movies. It’s a movie that’s funny, but has a message. It has something to say,” Danza explains, adding that the “father-son” dynamic between his character and Jimmy was also relatable as a dad of three. “I think that’s really important.”
Off screen, looking back on what might have been is something Danza admits he’s also experienced. He tells Us that there were a few decisions he wishes he could redo from his post Who’s the Boss days. (Danza starred on the hit sitcom for eight seasons from 1984 to 1992, garnering critical and fan acclaim for his performance as lovable live-in housekeeper Tony.)
“I was hell bent to be the funniest guy on TV. I wanted to do another sitcom [after Boss] and I got offered this part in a one-hour series, and I said, ‘[No], I’m gonna do a sitcom, that’s what I do’” Danza recalls. “And I look back on it now, and I really think that was maybe a big turning point in what I’ve been aspiring to, what I want to do, and what I want out of my career. … I think I took a wrong turn there.”
While Danza won’t dish on the part he wishes he’d said “yes” to — “it eats me up too much!” he confesses — his career isn’t the only area of life he’d like a do-over. Like Jimmy in Re-Election, Danza reflects back on his time in high school and wishes he’d taken more “advantage” of the education system he had at his disposal.
“I did just enough. I charmed the teachers, [but] I don’t know why I didn’t get A’s,” he says. “I finished college, and I did everything, but again, I look back at it and say, ‘Why didn’t I really take more advantage of it?’”
But while Danza can’t rewind time and go back to his teenage years like Jimmy, Re-Election also serves as a reminder that personal growth doesn’t have an expiration date — something Danza takes to heart. These days, the Taxi alum draws his lessons from everywhere and everyone, from film roles that continue to challenge him to watching his children — son Marc, 54, and daughters Katherine, 38, and Emily, 33 — navigate their own lives.
“I mean, now it’s the funniest thing. I’m so old and all I want to do is be a student,” he tells Us with a laugh. “Now, I’m studying piano. I have Duolingo. I’m [learning] Spanish. I mean, I’ve got a list. I’m out of control!”
Danza is open to soaking new knowledge in from all ages. His grandson, for example, is one person he turns to when it comes to keeping up with the times. Just this holiday season, the actor was able to learn from the second-year Kansas University student while moseying around NYC for the holidays.
“It’s not a sit down, ‘I’ll teach you a lesson,’” Danza explains of the pair’s dynamic. “But it’s like, being with him, I learn things. I keep my eyes open, and I listen to him, and he’s a wonderful kid.”
Danza doles out the wisdom, too. Through his nonprofit, The Stars of Tomorrow Project, the actor works directly with young performers. The NYC-based nonprofit currently has 80 students for the upcoming semester, where Danza and his fellow educators teach “acting, voice, movement and wellness” to teens.
“Its a life program. We teach them the wellness thing. We teach them how to [shop] for groceries. Then I rent a kitchen on 57th Street, and we take all the kids over there and I make them cook,” he tells Us of the nonprofit. “It’s wonderful.”
Danza extends that educator role to his own — now adult — kids, who he calls his “best friends.” His “wonderful” son Marc is now a coach to his own children, and his oldest daughter, Katherine, just welcomed his “beautiful” granddaughter Rosie. There’s also youngest child Emily, who is “starting a business” and currently moving from Los Angeles to Ohio.
No matter their age, Danza says teaching his kids is a forever ongoing conversation, and one he loves to have. “They’re [all] active, andI’m involved in their lives,” he says with a smile. “It couldn’t be better.”
For Danza, it’s clear that dad and grandfather are his most proud roles. Their happiness, he tells Us, matters more than any job or award ever could.
“There’s an old saying, ‘You’re only as happy as your least happy child.’ And it’s very true,” Danza explains. “And I’m just really lucky, I’m actually enjoying the gift of the happiness of my children, because they’re hard workers they strive, and that’s what I and everybody who meets me says: ‘Boy, your kids have such good manners. You did something, right.’ I feel really good about [that]. It’s really something.”
Re-Election is available to stream on demand now.
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