{"id":9046,"date":"2025-05-23T12:06:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/?p=9046"},"modified":"2025-05-23T12:06:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:06:31","slug":"neal-mcdonough-breaks-no-kissing-rule-in-the-last-rodeo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2025\/05\/neal-mcdonough-breaks-no-kissing-rule-in-the-last-rodeo.html","title":{"rendered":"Neal McDonough Breaks ‘no kissing’ Rule in ‘The Last Rodeo’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kathy Hutchins \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Actor Neal McDonough\u2019s latest film, \u201cThe Last Rodeo\u201d is hitting theaters, and aside from a sweeping story about a grandfather trying to save his grandson, it features an on-screen kiss from McDonough, something he\u2019s famously shied away from.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Fox News<\/em><\/a>, McDonough shared what was new about his role as the hero in \u201cThe Last Rodeo.\u201d “I’ve been riding horses my whole life, so to jump into this saddle is different because I’ve never really been in this type of saddle before. I’ve not been the hero of the movie,\u201d he said. \u201cI’ve never been in the position where I get to kiss the girl in the end because, as everyone knows, I won’t kiss another woman on screen.” McDonough convinced his wife to play his onscreen wife in the movie. \u201cI convinced my wife, Ruv\u00e9. I said, \u2018Honey, you have to be in the film because I have to kiss the girl in the end.\u2019 She\u2019s like, \u2018I don\u2019t know how to act.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018Well, you do now,\u2019\u201d explained McDonough.<\/p>\n

The decision to remain faithful to his wife onscreen has cost<\/a> McDonough roles throughout his career. In 2010, he was fired from an ABC show called \u201cScoundrels\u201d for refusing to kiss another woman. \u201cFor two years, I just didn\u2019t work. I didn\u2019t have anything,\u201d he said on a recent interview of the \u201cDutton Rules\u201d podcast. \u201cThey took my house away, cars away, everything. And at that time, I drank myself kind of silly just to kind of push everybody away and, and wallow in my own self pity.\u201d Like his character in \u201cThe Last Rodeo,\u201d McDonough had to find his way back to God. \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for my wife, Ruv\u00e9, you know, I wouldn\u2019t be here today. She got me through the problems that I went through all those years ago. She put my butt back into church. She got me to stop drinking and focus on what was important in life. And that was on God,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McDonough shared with Fox News <\/em>that kissing Ruv\u00e9 onscreen was the culmination of their years of faithfulness to one another. \u201cWe did it, and that was one of my favorite moments I’ve ever had on a set. There I am, wearing the hero hat, being directed by my favorite director of all time, Jon Avnet, kissing my wife in a movie, finally doing it the way I’ve always wanted to do it. It\u2019s the greatest feeling,” he said. It\u2019s also an homage to the woman who has helped him build his life through the good and bad. \u201cWatching me love the thing that I love more than anything on this planet \u2026 for me, it was the crowning achievement of everything I’ve done in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actor Neal McDonough\u2019s latest film, \u201cThe Last Rodeo\u201d is hitting theaters, and aside from a sweeping story about a grandfather trying to save his grandson, it features an on-screen kiss from McDonough, something he\u2019s famously shied away from. Speaking to Fox News, McDonough shared what was new about his role as the hero in \u201cThe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":9049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNeal McDonough Breaks 'no kissing' Rule in 'The Last Rodeo'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Neal McDonough stars in "The Last Rodeo"\u2014kissing his real-life wife onscreen in a powerful moment of faith, love, and a life redeemed by God.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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