Neal McDonough is a famous actor who has starred in some all-time favorite shows like “Band of Brothers” and “Yellowstone”, though he claims to have been blacklisted by Hollywood over his Christian beliefs.
Particularly, he claimed in a recent interview to have been essentially blacklisted in 2010 after being fired from ABC’s “Scoundrels,” a TV show. He was fired for refusing to do certain scenes that involved sexual acts that he said violated his Christian faith.
It was, however, that faith that kept him going after he lost almost everything when he was fired. Speaking on that in the interview, he said:
“I remember falling to my knees and saying, ‘God, why have you forgotten about me? Why am I being punished so much?’ And as soon as those words came out of my mouth, I realized what self-absorbed questions those were.
“God has given me so much. We all experience challenges in our lives. I should be grateful – and thankful – for all the blessings I’m given.”
Watch him discuss that here:
That isn’t the only time he’s spoken about his refusal to do certain things as an actor. He told Fox News much the same thing in 2020, saying:
“I won’t mention the Lord’s name in vain, and then I won’t kiss another woman. Sex scenes aren’t in it for me. And I think, gosh, there are enough sex scenes out there, and me being in my fifties, I’m not sure if anyone wants to see me doing that stuff anyway, but it’s a comfort level. I’m not very comfortable doing that.”
And now, after recovering from being blacklisted for his faith and determination to live it out in public, Neil is back and fighting back by producing his own film. Speaking on that in an interview with the Christian Post, he said that he and his wife Ruve, a South African model, are creating a movie that will give the glory to God. In his words:
“Now I have that opportunity because Ruve and I are doing it ourselves, and are so blessed to have companies that support us and back us and want to make more films and TV shows, or reality shows or any kind of show that gives glory to Him.
“Not just to make a movie, but to do a movie that actually gives Him glory — that’s our goal,” he added. “And that’s what we’re after, and we’re very fortunate to be able to do it.”
In that Christian Post interview he also made an interesting point about playing the bad guy in shows and movies, saying:
“I’ve certainly done plenty enough where my characters don’t portray the best things in life, but as an actor, you’re part of a piece. My part of a piece was to be the dark side in a lot of things, which is really interesting because that’s kind of the antithesis to what I am in real life. So it’s a great challenge as an actor; it’s a great challenge as a man. It’s also a great challenge as a child of God to press on with the right material.”
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