Why does Neal McDonough refuse to kiss anyone but his wife on screen?

Neal McDonough has a strict no-kissing rule on every movie he stars in. The only exception is if the actress is his wife of 20 years, Ruvé.

Neal McDonough, on the July 30, 2025, episode of the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, revealed that his wife didn’t influence his decision not to kiss any other actress. He added that he decided because he didn’t want his wife and kids to witness him in any awkward scenes:

"It was me, really, who had a problem. 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 also revealed that the decision had cost him roles in Hollywood and he had been “blacklisted.” McDonough, who has carved out a career path as a villain, addressed some of the comments he has gotten so far:

"'Well, you kill thousands of people in all of your movies, sometimes millions, and you won't kiss another woman onscreen?' I'm like, 'Yeah, but you're not really killing anybody,'" he said. "And it's kind of funny on the day when we're doing it. But intimacy is a whole different thing for me."

“Hollywood just completely turned on me,” Neal McDonough says in the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast

The actor’s decision to only kiss his wife on set was not without its implications on his career. Neal McDonough revealed in the podcast episode that he was sued by a movie production company when he refused to film a simulated s*x scene for a TV show.

He added that things became more difficult for him financially after his decisions became public knowledge in Hollywood:

"Hollywood just completely turned on me. Lost everything you could 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 lost in a tailspin."

As things got worse for the talented actor, he found himself taking refuge in drinking. After his wife intervened, he had to stop his vices and go back to church.

He added that things started working out for him then:

"When I stopped drinking and everything just kind of changed. Literally, the clouds parted. I was like, 'Oh. I don't need this crutch. Oh, people are calling me. Oh, I am successful. Oh, I do like myself again. Ok, I am God's child, and I have a job to do. Stop wallowing in self-pity.'"

Neal and Ruvé, who share five children, recently starred in the 2025 film The Last Rodeo. Neal McDonough admitted that it felt good to kiss his wife in a movie, finally.

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