Neal McDonough Says ‘Hollywood Turned on Me’ After ‘I Wouldn’t Kiss Another Woman On-Screen’: ‘I Couldn’t Get a Job and I Lost Everything’
Neal McDonough, the veteran character actor who has appeared in everything from “Band of Brothers” to “Desperate Housewives,” “Minority Report,” “American Horror Story,” “Suits” and more, revealed during an interview on the “Nothing Left Unsaid” podcast (exclusive shared by TMZ) that Hollywood shut him out when he refused to kiss other actors on screen. McDonough has been married to Ruvé Robertson since 2003. The couple has five children together.
“I’d always had in my contracts I wouldn’t kiss another woman on-screen,” McDonough said. “My wife didn’t have any problem with it. It was me, really, who had a problem with it. When I couldn’t do it, and they couldn’t understand it, Hollywood just completely turned on me. They wouldn’t let me be part of the show anymore.”
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“For two years, I couldn’t get a job and I lost everything you could possibly imagine,” McDonough added. “Not just houses and material things, but your swagger, your cool, who you are, your identity—everything. My identity was an actor, and a really good one. And once you don’t have that identity, you’re kind of lost in a tailspin.”
McDonough has been acting since 1990 and just headlined the Angel Studios drama film “The Last Rodeo,” in which he played a former bull-riding world champion who returns to the rodeo later in life in order to win money for his grandson’s brain tumor surgery. The film opened in theaters in late May and grossed $15 million on a production budget in the $8 million range.
In recent years, McDonough has been more known for his television work. He appeared on six episodes of “Yellowstone” as Malcolm Beck and on seven episodes of “9-1-1: Lone Star” as Sergeant Ty O’Brien. He reunited with “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan for a series regular role opposite Sylvester Stallone on the second season of “Tulsa King,” which streams on Paramount+.
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