Working in the entertainment world has always seemed like a daunting prospect, especially in light of the recent #MeToo movement, which has led to some Hollywood producers facing jail time. Most of the content is tainted with temptations of all kinds, vice dressed up like virtue, and a glamour that makes greed look good. 

But Neal McDonough is one of several Catholic actors bucking this trend. Growing up as an Irish Catholic along the coast of Cape Cod, he remains steadfast in his faith and loyalty to his family. 

Known for films such as Minority Report and television shows including Yellowstone, Boomtown and the Band of Brothers series, he is a skilled actor who has been shaping his own path in an industry known for breaking spirits and morals. 

Here are five things to know about this Catholic actor. 

1. The actor married the love of his life, and they have five beautiful kids.

Married in 2003, McDonough and Ruvé Robertson, a South African model, met while he was filming Band of Brothers in the United Kingdom. 

Speaking about the first time he met his wife on The Adam Carolla Show, the actor described the moment: 

“I took one look at her, and that was it. I knew it was destined to be for the rest of my life, and I couldn’t be happier.” 

He added: “There was work to be done on my part to close this deal — that wasn’t easy.”

In December of 2024, to mark their anniversary, McDonough took to social media to share their love story: 

“Just celebrated 21 years of marriage with my best friend, my partner in crime, the mother of my five children and the only human I want to wake up with every morning and go to sleep next to every night.

“Thank you, Ruvé, for helping me to be the man I am today! I’ve always said ‘I can conquer the world with one hand tied behind my back … as long as you’re holding the other one!’”

Children Morgan, Catherine, London, Clover and James travel with their parents on certain projects, and eldest daughter Catherine has modeled alongside her mother for a clothing brand.

2. McDonough has refused to kiss another woman on screen. 

Just this month, the actor was on the podcast Nothing Left Unsaid, where he discussed his own principles when it comes to any acting role he secures. 

Since 2001, “I always had in my contracts that I wouldn’t kiss another woman on screen. My wife didn’t have any problem with it. It was me, really, who had a problem,” McDonough shared with the hosts. “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.'”

Headlines recently circulated of McDonough saying that Hollywood had blacklisted him; and just last week, he and his wife expounded in greater detail, saying it was a blessing in disguise. 

Ruvé spoke during an interview with TMZ last Thursday: “We want to say, thank you, Hollywood. I don’t like how people are saying that Hollywood turned its back on Neal. No, it didn’t. The right people found Neal and put him in the right place.”

“Intimacy is a whole different thing for me. When I wouldn’t do it, and they couldn’t understand it, Hollywood just completely turned on me,” Neal explained. “They wouldn’t let me be part of the show [Desperate Housewives] anymore. And for two years, I couldn’t get a job, and I lost everything you could possibly 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 in a tailspin. And I was in a big, ugly tailspin for a couple of years,” he admitted.

Fast-forward to today: The actor just directed, produced and starred in his own movie, The Last Rodeo, which also featured his wife as the leading lady. The past, they believe, only set the stage for a brighter future. 

“If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t be here. Those were stepping stones, and it made our relationship closer.”

Plus, the actor did finally kiss someone on screen: his wife! 

3. In 2022, the actor started his own movie-production house called the McDonough Co. 

Working as a team, the husband and wife spearheaded their first production called Brass & Unity: One Woman’s Journey Through the Hell of Afghanistan and Back. Described as an “inspirational memoir from combat veteran Kelsi Sheren,” the story follows “a woman who witnessed the worst in the war in Afghanistan, was confronted by demons of post-traumatic stress, and fought for her life to become stronger than ever.”

Together, they have worked on several films, including 2022’s Boon, 2023’s The Warrant: Breaker’s Law and 2024’s Homestead.

4. He has portrayed Jesus as well as the devil in some acting jobs, and his roles as villains have influenced his conscience when it comes to confession. 

Although the actor has lent his voice to portray Jesus in “The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio New Testament Bible,” which is a recording of the Catholic edition of the Bible, he has also played Satan.

Working with the faith-based production house Angel Studios, McDonough played a character known as the “Benefactor” in The Shift, a movie based loosely on the story of Job. 

Playing the role of the villain, he said, led him to examine himself as a person.

“It’s funny, when I’ve played the villain roles, it makes me realize how blessed I am because you have to go to certain places in your thought and, as a method actor as I am, to dig deep and find things — sometimes find things you don’t like about yourself, and you have to fix those things,” he told Our Sunday Visitor. 

“But doing this psychoanalysis of myself while playing certain characters just makes me a stronger person, a bigger believer, and makes life just so much easier knowing that people can say or do whatever they want to me, I know the truth of situations, and I know that He is always there for me and for everyone else who believes in Him."

5. The Catholic actor uses social media to share his faith and motivate others to look for God in the hectic days of life. 

This week, McDonough took to social media to write this: 

From simple statements of faith like “Christ is King” to encouragement about keeping our eyes set on things that matter most, this father of five is a shining example in the entertainment industry. And he challenges all of us to take a page from his playbook. 

“You weren’t made to blend in. You were called to stand out to lead, to love, to shine. God didn’t place you here by accident. Every scar, every setback, every gift you carry it all matters. Walk tall. Speak truth. Live boldly. The world needs the light only you can bring.”