- Neal McDonough is a Christian man who has been through difficult times in his career.
- He was blacklisted in Hollywood for standing his ground.
- Neal eventually overcame the hurdles, and his acting career has since soared.
Neal McDonough has had his fair share of disappointments throughout his Hollywood career. He has lost many things and has been lost roles because of what he stands for, but his faith never wavered.
Neal McDonough grew up in a Christian household in Boston, Massachusetts, and is one of six children. The showbiz star’s family originally hails from Ireland, as his father immigrated to the US in 1947.
Neal’s family is Catholic, and he and his siblings were raised always to do the right thing. As a child, he went through many challenges, and he recalled:
“My 10-year-old self, my 11-year-old self, I remember, was kind of a mess. I had dyslexia. I had a speech impediment. I was kind of chunky. And that’s all that I really had.”
Once he got to high school, things did not get any better. He struggled to make teams and had no idea what was going on in life. Things started to look up for him after he played Snoopy in the musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” where he got a standing ovation.
That was when Neal realized what he wanted to do with his life: acting. But a religious retreat made him more in tune with himself as he discovered his uniqueness.
It took a while for him to build his confidence, especially after moving to Hollywood and trying to make an impression with his craft.
But Neal’s iconic role in the mini-war drama series, “Band of Brothers,” propelled him to make his mark in show business. He became himself on-screen, and after becoming confident, he started to believe that everything is possible through faith.
Neal Gets Candid about His Rollercoaster Acting Journey
After finding his footing in the entertainment industry, things went awry again. Neal has claimed that in 2010, he was fired three days into filming the ABC series, “Scoundrels,” after refusing to shoot a sex scene.
Although the show only aired for one season, he revealed that he was blacklisted from the industry as a result, and his life came to a halt:
“There was a time when I wasn’t working. I couldn’t get a job because people thought I was this crazy religious guy. But that wasn’t the case. I love my wife, but I love my acting too.”
While on the hit show, the actor had a no-kissing rule, leading the creator, Marc Cherry, to make adjustments to accommodate his character in his writing. Neal once
