Neal McDonough Says ‘Hollywood Turned on Me’ After ‘I Wouldn’t Kiss Another Woman On-Screen’

“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+.

He sounds like a ...

On today's episode of "First World Problems"...

No, they turned on you because you're a weirdo who is difficult to work with.

It's like a porn star who refuses to have sex.

You don't have to kiss another actor on screen and they don't have to hire you. Simple.

Maybe it's because he doesn't like kissing women

Such a tragic story. How can the world be such a cruel place as to do such a thing to this man?

He bitches about this almost every time he's interviewed, even though he still works steadily.

Poor MAGAt. A straight, white man - the most persecuted group in Hollywood and, more widely, in America.

R6- He's got gay lips. I don't care how many crotchfruit his FRAU wife has popped out.

I still think he's a FAG

Is he really straight? Maybe he just wanted a family and a traditional life.

Even major whack job/Jesus freak Jim Caviezel isn't such a pain in the ass to work with.

These people who think if they kiss someone else they are commitnig a sin or leading to sin. How much lack of self control do you have that you cannot kiss a woman for your job. Or a man for that matter. Will Smith refused to kiss a man in six degrees of separation.

How many movies would have called for that anyways?

[quote]How much lack of self control do you have that you cannot kiss a woman for your job. Or a man for that matter. Will Smith refused to kiss a man in six degrees of separation.

I think we've all seen how little self-control Will Smith has.

Do that many roles aside from leading man involve kissing one's co-stars? Perhaps seeking out supporting character parts in tandem with the no-kissy-kissy rider would have been wise.

[quote] A straight, albino man

Fixed that for you.

How often would he ever even be considered for the romantic lead? He's a character actor, and usually cast as some kind of weirdo villain or repressed homosexual.

This is such a wild swing of blame, I don't really know what to say. I doubt it was the lack of kissing that blacklisted him. *smirk*

Who is this?? That bitchy barista from Friends? He should be grateful to find work at all!

LOVE the Matt Damon troll. Never gets old! Please keep on - it’s so unexpected.

Another weird right-winger who’s convinced he’s both a victim and a hero.

If I'm being honest, I always thought he was gay.

He totally sets off my gaydar.

Maybe it's the platinum blond hair he loves so much.

Loved him in BAND OF BROTHERS, but the lady doth protest too much.

No sympathy for this weirdo fundie.

My GOD the suffering this man has been through. I thought I’d seen it all, but this is hard to read. His COOLNESS??? His SWAGGER??? This world is so fucking cruel. I hate this world.

He used to play baseball here locally. I called him the Albino Ray Liotta but not to his face. From what I hear he's likely gay. And a very nice guy.

You’d think they were asking him to fuck an actress on camera.

You’re an actor; none of it is real. And when you were kissing a stranger with a large crew, all leaning in only feet from your face, there’s really no risk of getting swept off your feet and for forgetting where you are.

I had a crush on him when I saw him in Ravenous. Too bad he turned out to be a fundie douche

It’s the same argument of American versus European culture.

Americans can show violence but not sex and nudity. Neal can kill someone in a movie but not kiss them.

I hear from a former teammate he wears eyeliner to play softball. (I was mistaken when I said baseball)

Is he Catholic?

He was on Desperate Housewives

Idiot.

It always surprises me when actors kiss on screen, and then immediately wipe their lips afterwards.

It takes me right out of the scene. No believability at all.

Jensen Ackles is very guilty of this, on Supernatural.

He was always supposed to be a man whore, but then always wiped his lips after a kissing scene.

It looked really dumb.

I’m so tired of these MAGA snowflakes always bitching and moaning.

Kirk Cameron also has this rule, so they simply substituted his real-life wife in for the actress when it came to the kissing scene! Perhaps Neal can get in touch with Kirkles for a job

When ya'd kiss me, I always used to wipe my mouth! Wipe my mouth!

What a tool. Amazing that some of these overly sensitive, personal boundary actor-types don't get that unless your name is one, two or three on the call list, no one gives a shit about your issues. No one quietly gives a shit. It's simpler just to hire one of dozens more who don't come with the bullshit who can do the job just as well. Yet it's always "the man's" fault.

Wiping your lips after kissing someone, does absolutely nothing to remove germs.

It's completely pointless

This guy works A LOT. What in the hell is he bitching about?

He was on Band of Brothers

And Desperate Housewives

R41/R42, why are you repeating what’s already been posted?

He’s unable to do the work. Hollywood doesn’t owe him a job. Cry me a river. Let him make his own boring productions.

Dear Neal - Hollywood turned on you because you are extremely fug. But seriously - no one "turned on you," dumbass.

Nice body, but looks like a little kid

When one focuses too much on the frame it brings the art into question.

R2 He could play Matt Damon's older brother

Imagine hiring someone for a job and they refuse to do one of the requirements.

This is a stupid hill to die on - particularly because his wife doesn't care. (Or he SAYS his wife doesn't care and there's more to the story)

Nudity is one thing - but relationships and kissing are human nature.

Weirdo.

It’s like a stripper who won’t show her titties. You don’t have to show them and we don’t have to hire you.

I wonder how his wife enjoyed losing her security because her husband, an actor, was too concerned about the nothing of actorly kisses in performance that she didn't give a fundie crap about.

Hmm - looks like Neal doesn't know the internet exists to back-up his tall tale.

Here's his Wiki - listing all his film and TV credits. He has worked in multiple films and series EVERY.FUCKING.YEAR.

You're an actor. Your character may do things you wouldn't - that's kind of a central theme. Also, if you are with someone who doesn't understand that, maybe you need to get another job.

No worries: In a year or two AI will be ready for at-home viewers to create scenes of him getting spitroasted by Michael B Jordan and Rock Hudson.

did he happen to mention anything about kissing another man on screen?

I'll suck off men but kissing a female? That's disgusting!

He's crazy.

Why on EARTH would you even mention this in the press? It does nothing than make you look starved for attention and difficult to work with.

I presume this was years ago.

I always thought he looked and acted strange anyway. He has 5 kids and turned down work because he didn't want to kiss another woman?

Stupid ass.

He played the second best villain on Justified after Margo Martindale.

[quote]Is he Catholic?

There was an interview some time back where he mentioned being part of some ultra-conservative Catholic sect.

I took it to mean he goes to one of those renegade churches that still says Mass in Latin.

He's not Roman Catholic, he's Mel Gibson Catholic.

Wife looks MTF

Maybe he's never offered any roles that might require kissing because he's simply too creepy-looking to be a believable romantic interest or even a suburban dad who smooches his wife. Or acts unconvincingly in such roles during auditions. So this is his post hoc explanation for their absence on his resume. A well-rounded actor would want diversity in his filmography.

And, yes. This is not the first time he's complained. I looked at the OP's date because I could swear we had a thread about this before.

Lol R56!

[quote] He could play Matt Damon's older brother

What the fuck???

I'm not a....

Smiles like the front end of a 1950 Buick

His face is repulsive. You couldn't pay me to kiss him, either. I'm sure the feeling is mutual with actresses all over hollywood.

He's very conservative which in Hollywood is not a good card of introduction. I think his difficulty getting work may also be because of this.

R61, you just know that that big, butch thing pegs delicate flower Neal.

I'll bet their both "ex-gays".

It's called acting.

I can understand if an actor or actress won't do nudity.

But this?

He should be a commercial pitchman then, or a gameshow host. Or limit himself to specific, sexless roles. He could do voice work. If you have a strict "no kissing" rule then acting is probably not for you. As someone else said, kissing isn't like doing nude scenes. I'm sure it's awkward and comes with challenges, but it shouldn't be a huge reach for a professional. "My religious beliefs forbid it" is not a valid excuse. It's part of the job. Don't take the job if it goes against your beliefs.

Oh, honey, none of those female actors are bemoaning your decision, be rest assured!

Follow up question:

So Neal, is it true you cheated on your wife several times with co-stars before she found out?

What were the terms of her agreeing to stay and not divorce you and separate you from your kids, while you pay alimony and child support?

Was this around the same time in question you decided to put these terms in your contract?

This is as stupid as the pharmacists who won't dispense certain types of medications. Find another line of work.

He may be a fundie and he may be a freak,but goddamn is he a good actor. His character on Justified gave me chills ! Not to mention the fact his kink on Justified was hiring and beating up hustlers . Hes one of the few out there I will watch on something I might not have been as interested in.

He seems to get plenty of work so can only be bemoaning the lack of romantic leads to which he feels entitled

LOL - most leading men roles require you to kiss the leading lady.

Of course, you're not going to be hired if it's known you won't do something required in the script. It's not being blacklisted, it's being unable to perform a necessary part of the job.

He's simply not big enough to make anyone rewrite a script, and he seems too exhausting to have made good friends with people willing to do so.

He was gorgeous in Star Trek: First Contact, at least until he was assimilated and, of course, got himself ejected into space.

I’ve got bad news about your ‘swagger’ buddy…

Damn, R72.

Spill the dirt!

Looking at his IMDb page, I don’t see any two year period where he would have been blackballed. If there was two years where he didn’t work, it was likely due to Covid and the strikes and not this nonsense.

Also, if you read the Deadline story on these comments, someone mentions him showing up on set and then refusing to film a sex scene despite it literally being on the first page of the script. The project in question was the short lived TV show Scoundrels where he was replaced by (the much sexier) David James Elliot. It’s one thing to not want to kiss someone else on camera but it’s another to accept a role where that’s clearly in the script and then refuse to film it. McDonough also told this story in 2019 and in his telling he’s, of course, the victim. Typical Christian faux persecution complex.

Hasn’t he also whined about not getting parts due to being politically conservative? Pick an oppression, mister!

[quote] got himself ejected into space.

What gave them the authority to get him ejected into space?