Yellowstone actor Neal McDonough said his refusal to kiss women other than his wife was a death knell for his Hollywood career.
The veteran performer, 59, chat on Wednesday’s edition of the podcast Nothing Left Unsaid, opening up on a yearslong slide he said was due to his strict adherence to his marital vows.
‘I’d always had in my contracts that I wouldn’t kiss another woman on screen,’ the Boston-born actor and strict Catholic told the podcast hosts Tim Green and Troy Green.
McDonough played the role of Malcolm Beck on six episodes of Yellowstone in 2019.
They included: The Reek of Desperation, Only Devils Left, Blood the Boy, Resurrection Day, Behind Us Only Grey and Sins of the Father.
McDonough clarified that the contractual demand was at his behest, and not that of his spouse Ruve McDonough, who he’s been wed to since 2003 and shares five children with.
Yellowstone actor Neal McDonough said his refusal to kiss women other than his wife was a death knell for his Hollywood career. Pictured with Kevin Costner on Yellowstone in 2019
‘My wife didn’t have any problem with it – it was me, really, who had a problem with it,’ said McDonough, who’s been seen on TV shows such as Desperate Housewives, Tulsa King and Meghan Markle‘s one-time show Suits.
McDonough said it was impossible for Hollywood producers to get that he was dead serious about his demand – and they quickly stopped using him as a result.
‘When I wouldn’t do it… they couldn’t understand,’ McDonough said of his refusal to kiss other women on camera. ‘Hollywood just completely turned on me, and they wouldn’t let me be part of the show anymore.
‘For two years, I couldn’t get a job and I lost everything you could possibly imagine.’
McDonough’s movie credits include Star Trek: First Contact, Red 2 and Guns & Moses. He also starred as Lynn ‘Buck’ Compton in HBO’s war drama Band of Brothers (2001).
He said that the loss of work resulted in a domino effect in which everything dear to him began slipping away.
‘Not just houses [and] material things, but your swagger, your cool, who you are, your identity – everything,’ McDonough said.
‘My identity was an actor, and a really good one.’
McDonough said that the problems lingered for an extended period.
McDonough, who’s been seen on TV shows such as Desperate Housewives, Tulsa King and Meghan Markle’s one-time show Suits, was pictured in May in Texas
McDonough clarified that the contractual demand was at his behest, and not that of his spouse Ruve McDonough, who he’s been wed to since 2003. Pictured in 2022 in Monte Carlo
McDonough’s Ruvé portrayed the role of his wife Rose Wainwright in the movie, and the two did kiss onscreen. Pictured in 2022
‘Once you don’t have that identity, you’re kind of lost in a tailspin,’ McDonough said.
‘And I was in a big, ugly tailspin for a couple of years.’
McDonough’s most recent role came in the May feature film The Last Rodeo, which he was a writer on and played the lead role of Joe Wainwright.
His spouse Ruvé portrayed the role of his wife Rose Wainwright in the movie, and the two did kiss onscreen.
Prior to acting in the role, Ruvé, a native of South Africa, had a background in fashion modeling and film production.
The rodeo drama also starred Mykelti Williamson, Sarah Jones, Graham Harvey and Christopher McDonald.
