Neal McDonough has one rule when taking on acting roles: he will not kiss another actor on-screen.
The actor who has had roles in shows like Desperate Housewives, Suits, Band of Brothers and The X-Files recently revealed that Hollywood “turned” on him for taking this stance.
“I’d always had in my contracts I wouldn’t kiss another woman on screen,” McDonough said the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, which TMZ shared. “My wife didn’t have any problem with it. It was me, really, who had a problem with it.”
He continued, “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.”
McDonough has been married to Ruvé Robertson since 2003, and the couple has five children together.
“For two years, I couldn’t get a job and I lost everything you could possibly imagine,” he said. “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’s other acting credits include Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Project Blue Book. More recently, the actor appeared on Yellowstone, Altered Carbon, The 100, and reprised his Marvel role of Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan in an episode of What If…? on Disney+.
In 2021, McDonough starred in American Horror Story: Double Feature as Dwight D. Eisenhower and had a recurring role in 9-1-1: Lone Star. Last year, he reunited with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan for the second season of Tulsa King.
