Neal McDonough, the veteran US actor, says he was blacklisted in Hollywood for refusing to perform kissing roles on-screen.
In a recent interview on the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, McDonough explained that he consistently included a “no-kissing” clause in his contracts, not because of his wife’s demands, but out of respect for his future marriage and children.
The 59-year-old actor said, however, when he stood firm on this principle, the industry turned against him, leading to his dismissal from projects and a two-year professional exile that cost him nearly everything.
“I always had in my contracts that I would not kiss another woman on screen. My wife did not have any problem with it. It was me, really, who had a problem. I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to put you through it,” he said.
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“I know we are going to start having kids, and I do not want to put my kids through it. When I would not do it, and they could not understand it, Hollywood just completely turned on me. They would not let me be part of the show anymore.
“And for two years, I could not 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. And they told me, ‘unless you do it, we are gonna have to replace you’.
“I’m like, ‘Well, then replace me because I am not gonna do it.’ And they fired me.”
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Recalling the moment he was let go, said: “I remember flying home from Albuquerque and flying over the desert in New Mexico and realizing, ‘Okay, I just got fired from a TV show. I’d have a better chance of surviving in that desert than surviving when I land in Hollywood.’ And I was right.
“I knew I did the right thing for my marriage. I knew I did the right thing for God. And I knew I did the right thing for me.”
