'All I Want to Do Is Be a Student'

In his new movie, Re-Election, the actor plays the father of a middle-aged guy who goes back to high school. In his own life, perennial TV dad Danza never wants to stop learning

- KAT PETTIBONE

"The other night, [Who's the Boss?] was on, and I watched," he tells Us, adding that he's "very proud" of the boundary-breaking sitcom.

After nearly five decades in show business, Tony Danza is still finding ways to surprise himself. His latest comedy, Re-Election (on demand now), casts the legendary actor as 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. At the heart of the film lies something deeply 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, tells Us. “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.”

Re-Election also serves as a reminder that personal growth doesn’t have an expiration date. These days, the