Neal McDonough has claimed he "couldn't get a job" in Hollywood for two years because of his refusal to kiss co-stars onscreen.
The actor, known for his appearances in TV shows such as Band of Brothers, Desperate Housewives, Suits, and Yellowstone, decided to put a clause in his contracts that stated he wouldn't kiss actresses or appear in sex scenes after he married his wife Ruvé Robertson in 2003.
"I'd always had in my contracts I wouldn't kiss another woman onscreen. My wife didn't have any problem with it. It was me, really, who had a problem with it," he told host Tim Green on the latest episode of the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast. "I was like, 'Yeah, I don't want to put you through it. I know we're going to start having kids, and I don't want to put my kids through it.'"
McDonough, a devout Catholic, shares five children with Robertson.
However, the star admitted that the clause had a negative impact on his career.
"Intimacy is a whole different thing for me. So, when I wouldn't do it and they couldn't understand it, Hollywood just completely turned on me and they wouldn't let me be part of the show anymore," the 59-year-old continued. "For two years, I couldn't get a job, and I lost everything you could possibly imagine. 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 in a tailspin. And I was in a big, ugly tailspin for a couple of years."
McDonough didn't name the TV show he was allegedly fired from over his refusal to appear in sex scenes, though in 2019, he told Closer Weekly that he was let go from drama series Scoundrels in 2010 as a result of his stance.
During the tough time, the Tulsa King actor noticed that he was drinking more.
"I never drank during the set. I never drank during work because I love my craft and I take it with the utmost seriousness in everything I do," he explained. "But after work or days off or anything, I still feel like I wasn't a man. I didn't feel that I was doing the right things or some things just weren't clicking."
Previously, McDonough credited Band of Brothers producer Graham Yost for reviving his career when he cast him in Justified.
The Massachusetts native is currently promoting the feature film The Last Rodeo.
