Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 05/23/25

Riding out the storm. In his new movie The Last Rodeo (in theaters today), veteran actor Neal McDonough (Homestead, Tulsa King) plays a retired rodeo legend who, out of love for his cancer-stricken grandson, risks it all and faces his own painful past as he enters a high-stakes bull-riding competition as the oldest contestant ever.  For McDonough, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film, the rodeo motif is a perfect metaphor for how he had to hold on and ride out the Cancel Culture storm that nearly wiped out his career. As he sees it, it was help from above that kept him in the saddle.

JWK: How’d the idea for The Last Rodeo come about and what do you hope audiences take from it?

Neal McDonough: I truly believe God put a seed in my head and whispered “Rocky on a bull” to me. That’s how it all started…I started writing. Within 24 hours I had outlined the whole story. Then I called my writing partner Derek Presley. Within a week we wrote our first draft. Within days we had financing for it – and off we were going. It’s really just been this incredibly fast thing to happen that I know was God’s plan.

What I want people to take from the film is (that) you will go through obstacles in life. You will go through some tragedies in life. I have in my personal life…an addiction that I’ve had to alcohol. Any things that are hard to get through, infuse that into the script (as) you watch this lead character really kind of struggle with his faith, struggle with life. Then, when he’s called on it, what is he gonna do? Is he gonna man up? Is he gonna find his faith again? Is he going to do the right things? Those are all the things that we all struggle with every single day. I wanted to write a character that went through those struggles, that everyone could say “Oh, I kind of understand this guy. I see what he’s going through.”

JWK: Why’d you choose the rodeo world as the backdrop of your story?

NM: I didn’t know anything about rodeo when the idea came into my head. I was doing a western when I started writing this film. Again, I don’t know how – I literally don’t know how – a bull-riding film came into my head. It was a gift from God. To write and star in a film that’s really Rocky on a bull is just kind of something I’m very proud of. Then to have the amazing Jon Avnet as the director for our film – to pull out the the performances from all the actors, to help mold the script correctly, to make the shots really just sing – and the action sequences were just phenomenal. You don’t have to be a massive rodeo fan to love this film. I’m so blessed to be part of it. 

JWK: You’ve had a lot of mainstream success, appearing in hit TV shows like Suits, Yellowstone and Tulsa King. So, you’re a successful actor but you have recounted how you were once fired from an ultimately failed TV series called Scoundrels for refusing to do sex scenes because you felt it violated your Catholic faith – and out of respect for your wife. You now have, I think, four movies in the pipeline so you are now definitely a working actor. How do you remain in demand when, for a lot of people, that may have been a real problem.

NM: Oh, John, it was a massive problem. There were two years of me being blackballed and kind of cancelled before the term cancelled was even out there. You know, for those two years I just kind of drank myself – my shame, my pity – away. I was drinking and drinking and hating and self-loathing myself.

Finally, after two years of it (my wife) Ruvé was just so worried about me after we had everything taken away that God gave me a gift. I’ve said it before. I said “God, why have you forgotten about me? As soon as I said it I realized that I was making it all about me, not making it about servicing God and not making it about anything else but myself. A minute later the phone rang and it was Graham Yost from Band of Brothers, Boomtown and Justified. He said “I hear you’re going through some hard stuff. I want you to be a villain on Justified.” That was my shot back at the title. It was something that got me out of the ashes. It took me even more years to figure out where I was and how to get to the next level.

Then I started thinking (about) films that give glory to Him. Greater was the first one that we did. Then we did Red Stone which was about hit man who finds his faith. Then we did part two of that. Then we did a couple of other films. Before you knew it, we had The Shift and Homestead. Now, we have The Last Rodeo and The Wicked and the Righteous coming next.

There’s all these amazing things, these gifts that God has given me because I’m doing things that speak to the heartland of America which I think Hollywood has kind of gotten away from. They make such dark movies and TV shows. You know, I’m guilty of it. I’m part of it. I have to make a living – but now I get to do films and produce them with my wife Ruvé that give glory to Him – and they’re entertaining. I don’t call them “faith-based” films. I call them really good movies that you can learn from. For me, growing up with Frank Capra films or the latter portion of John Wayne‘s career when he made The Cowboys – which is my favorite film of all time – those are the films that I’ve always aspired to do. Now, I have the opportunity to do it. I don’t take that lightly. I know that I’ve been really blessed to be in this position to make films that…give glory to Him, (entertain) the heartland of America (and) have a positive message.

JWK: So, in a way, the blackballing  empowered you to connect with other creators and to create content that matches your values.

NM: Yeah. I didn’t really have much of a choice. I went through some really hard stuff. I figured out, along with my wife Ruvé, how to get through it together – and we got through it together. We’re stronger now than we’ve ever been. We’ve got all these projects that we’re working on – and people coming to us and offering money to be part of the films or actors saying “How can I be part of your next project?”

The Last Rodeo is something that’s gonna kind of change the way that everyone looks at not just Neal McDonough but the McDonough Company and films in general. To have Angel Studios wholeheartedly support what we’re doing is really incredible. It’s really incredible, John, to talk to you about where were at, where we’re going and how we got here. Gosh, I’m so blessed and fortunate to be able to be here talking to you about it.

JWK: I’m glad to be talking with you about it too. Talking about Angel Studios, they distributed your movie Homestead which is a streaming series now.

NM: Yeah (and) here I am with a cowboy hat on again playing that heroic type of character. We did that film for five-million dollars and it crossed 23-million dollars at the box office. That’s a staggering number. People like seeing me in that western world and that all-American thing but it’s also Angel Studios. Angel Studios really works hard to make sure that they service their Guild and their members to the best of their ability and to give them projects that they’ll be proud of and proud to support not just monetarily but with goodwill and physical support (at) the theaters – not just waiting for things to come out on different platforms but actually going to the cinema. (They support films in theaters) better than any other distribution company on the planet. That we get to be part of that is remarkable.

JWK: The Homestead movie that ran in the theaters was sort of like the pilot for the streaming series that flowed out of it, right?

NM: That’s right. I’m not part of the series…but (series star) Bailey Chase is a phenomenal dude and a great talent. Who knows if I’ll ever get back to doing that. We couldn’t do it because we had The Last Rodeo going and now we have Tulsa King and everything else but I loved being part of Homestead. They’re great people, great family. I wish them all the best. I hope it runs forever.

JWK: You’re on the record as being a Republican. Do you think Trump winning the popular vote in the presidential election has at all changed the entertainment industry? Has there been any sort of acknowledgement that not only has Woke politics been rejected by the public but Woke entertainment too?

NM: I’m not really a political guy. People say I’m a Republican. I guess I am but Ruvé calls me purple. I’m a little bit of red and a little bit of blue. You know, everything. For me, what is great is that the heartland of America has a voice. Their voice is saying we want to get back to what built America – and that’s God.

God is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence four times. We were watching Trump’s speech the other night. Right behind his head it said “In God we trust.” I love that we’re getting back to what the original founders of our country built this country upon. That was faith in God. If we do right for Him, He will do right for us. That’s the promise from God. That’s not a political thing. That’s just (that) we’re finally having our voices heard. It’s just a wonderful time to be making films that give glory to Him that also speak to the heartland of America and what America truly is about.

My parents came over from Ireland in a boat. They had twelve bucks in their pocket. They put six kids through schools and brought us up with not a whole lot. My dad, when he came over, walked straight into the Army office and said “Make me an American.” They shipped him off overseas for seven years. He was the proudest American. He instilled that faith into all of us. I am so proud to be a first-generation American. That’s what I write about. Those are the things that I believe America is about. We are a country of immigrants. We’re a country of people who came from some place else with a dream – a dream of being able to have the freedom to do what we want, to be able to have a life that is better than any other country on the planet. I love writing about it, I love acting about it, I love speaking about it and I love being part of the United States of America.

JWK: Getting away from party politics, do you think that sort of embrace of heartland values is coming back to the entertainment industry?

NM: Yeah. I think it is. The numbers prove it. When you see movies like Homestead, again, a five-million dollar film making 23-million dollars at the box office. That doesn’t happen. When I look at the numbers that they’re projecting for The Last Rodeo, it’s pretty astounding. It’s the support of people going to the cinema (and) paying for tickets (to) support the films that they want to see. They want to see films that talk about family values. They want to see films that have action. They want to see films that talk about real issues – not just “faith-based” films but films that (include) faith. I think America loves it, I think the world needs and that’s what we’re doing. We’re not gonna stop because everywhere we go, Ruvé and I get stopped by people saying “Thank you for making films that we can bring the whole family to see and we will always support you.” I’m so humbled, John, that people go to the theaters and support films that we make with Angel Studios. They show up and they show up in droves. It’s just something that I’m so incredibly proud of.

JWK: That’s great. Anything you’d like to say as we wrap up?

NM: If you love films like this, if you really want to support America and making films that are great and talk about America and the values that are American, go to the movie theaters. Bring the whole family. This is a film that the whole family can go and watch and not have to cover any kid’s eyes or block their ears. There’s nothing like that in any of this film. It’s all about what happens to families when families get broken up in certain situations and how they (can) build it back up again the American way. I’m so proud of it.