Neal McDonough says Hollywood labeled him a ‘religious nut,’ cost him his career and home
Neal McDonough is looking back on a dark moment in his life and career.
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the 60-year-old actor discussed his Jimmy Stewart biopic he is a part of, “Jimmy,” and a time when he thought his Hollywood career was over.
“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.”
He went on to admit that while he “was always a drinker,” but “it became a bad problem” after he was blackballed for refusing to kiss his co-star, saying, “I lost the house, lost the cars, lost everything.”
The actor is currently starring in “Jimmy,” which tells the story of Jimmy Stewart in celebration of what would have been the actor’s 118th birthday.
While in this dark time, the “Desperate Housewives” star found kindness in his friend, actor Luke Perry, who allowed McDonough and his family to live in his home after they lost theirs.
“’Justified’ was just coming out, but I still didn’t think I was worth anything because I failed to 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?”
WATCH HERE: NEAL MCDONOUGH REFLECTED ON BEING CONSIDERED A ‘RELIGIOUS NUT BAG’
After some introspection, and some tough love from his wife, he realized he had to make his life about serving God, “rather than serving me.”
He credited his wife of 25 years, Ruve, for giving him the motivation he needed to quit drinking, saying, “She grabbed me and says, it’s us or the bottle, you choose,” and he “never looked back.”
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“It’s just a cold, hard fact that God gave me an amazing, incredible, most amazing woman that I’ve ever met. I can talk forever about it, but she’s my good luck charm, and she got through me hell, and now here I am, in a fantastic place in life that we’re producing movies together. And I can’t tell you how amazing that feels.”
McDonough and his wife work together as producing partners and have made many projects together, including “Boon,” “The Warrant: Breaker’s Law,” “Homestead” and “The Last Rodeo.”
WATCH HERE: NEAL MCDONOUGH CREDITS HIS WIFE FOR GETTING HIM OUT OF A BAD SPOT WHEN DEALING WITH ALCOHOLISM
They first met in 2000 while filming “Band of Brothers” and began dating in 2001. They tied the knot in December 2003 and have since welcomed five children.
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“Now, after producing the Jimmy story and playing Jimmy Stewart’s dad and immersing myself in the world of Jimmy…to know what Jimmy Stewart had gone through just previously in World War II, and had already won the Academy Award for Mr. Smith, to come back after World War II and think, well, what am I going to do now in life?“ he said.
WATCH HERE: NEAL MCDONOUGH DETAILS THE JIMMY STEWART BIOPIC HE IS STARRING IN
After getting to know Stewart as a “very conflicted guy who just tried to get up every day and do the right thing,” he explained that the actor’s birthday “means a whole lot more to” him this year than in the past.
“Because Ruve and I got to see who Jimmy Stewart was, read all about Jimmy, what he had gone through, and then to watch it be personified in the amazing performance by KJ Apa,” he said. “I am one lucky and blessed dude to be part of it.”
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