Neal McDonough reveals he lost his home and battled alcohol after Hollywood blacklisted him

• McDonough was fired and blacklisted after refusing to kiss a co-star, with studios branding him a religious fanatic
• He lost his home, cars, and possessions and fell into serious alcohol dependency during the dark period
• Late actor Luke Perry allowed McDonough and his family to live in his home after they lost theirs

Neal McDonough has opened up about one of the darkest periods of his life and career, recalling how he lost his home, spiralled into heavy drinking, and was effectively shut out of Hollywood — all because he refused to kiss a female co-star on set.

In a candid interview with Fox News Digital, the 60-year-old actor reflected on the personal and professional fallout whilst discussing his forthcoming Jimmy Stewart biopic, Jimmy, due for release on 6 November.

Blacklisted and branded a "religious nut bag"

"What time is the bar open? That was generally my thought process back then," McDonough recalled. "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."

Whilst he admitted he had "always been a drinker," the situation deteriorated sharply after the blacklisting. "It became a bad problem," he said. "I lost the house, lost the cars, lost everything."

Luke Perry's quiet act of kindness

During this deeply difficult period, the Desperate Housewives star found an unlikely lifeline in his close friend, the late actor Luke Perry, who opened his home to McDonough, his wife Ruve, and their five children after they lost theirs.

Reflecting on the emotional toll of that time, McDonough said: "'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?"

His wife's ultimatum changed everything

Through a combination of personal reflection and the unwavering resolve of his wife, McDonough found his way back. He credits Ruve entirely with giving him the strength to quit drinking.

"She grabbed me and says, it's us or the bottle, you choose," he recalled. "And I never looked back."

He described the experience as a turning point that redirected his focus from self to faith. "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."

A partnership in life and work

McDonough and Ruve first met in 2000 during the filming of Band of Brothers and began a relationship the following year. They wed in December 2003 and have since welcomed five children together.

The couple now work as producing partners, with joint credits including Boon, The Warrant: Breaker's Law, Homestead, and The Last Rodeo.

Finding meaning in Jimmy Stewart

McDonough is currently starring in Jimmy, in which he plays Jimmy Stewart's father, a project he describes as deeply meaningful.

Reflecting on Stewart's own post-war struggles, he said: "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?"

Getting to know Stewart as "a very conflicted guy who just tried to get up every day and do the right thing," McDonough said the actor's birthday "means a whole lot more" to him this year.

"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."