Neal McDonough Reveals Hollywood's Label of Being a 'Religious Nut Bag' Cost Him His Career
Neal McDonough is one of those Hollywood actors that fans can easily recognize, but largely because of his supporting roles on TV and film. The actor opened up about the reality of his career that hit the fan early on due to his setting boundaries and Hollywood's labeling of him.
The 60-year-old actor spoke with Fox News Digital about his new role in the Jimmy Stewart biopic, as well as the dark moments of his life as an actor. For years, many fans knew that the actor was reportedly "blacklisted" by Hollywood for his No. 1 rule of refusing to take on characters and scenes that involve kissing another woman. It was in respect for his wife, Ruve, but it ultimately led him to take on lesser roles.
"What time is the bar open? That was generally my thought process back then," he explained. "It was, you know, fired from a show because I wouldn't kiss a woman. No one would hire me because they thought I was this religious nut bag, which is that I love my wife so much. And no one can understand it, no one could understand it."
The actor reveals that he was a heavy drinker, but things became a "bad problem" when he was shunned by Hollywood over refusing to kiss a co-star. As a result, McDonough and his family had lost everything from their house to their cars.
"Justified was just coming out, but I still didn't think I was worth anything because I failed my family. I failed, [my wife] Ruve, my five kids, that I lost our house. I lost all the beautiful things that were the shiny widgets that I had accumulated, were all taken away from me. And that crucifixion caused me so much inner pain because I made it all about me. How could I let the team down?" said the actor.
Justified was a 2010 Western series starring Timothy Olyphant and premiered on FX. McDonough played a supporting role as the character Robert Quarles in Season 3 of the series, with it later cancelled after its sixth season. The actor admitted that during the hard time, his friend and the late actor Luke Perry took him and his family into his own home.
While having been labeled by Hollywood, McDonough has still kept up a long filmography of TV and film roles. He starred as Sean Cahill in Suits and appeared as a recurring character in Arrow and the CW's other superhero series. He also starred in 9-1-1- Lone Ranger, Yellowstone, and Sylvester Stallone's Tulsa King. In film, he played recent roles in The Last Rodeo and will star in KJ Apa's Jimmy.
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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 10:27 AM.