Suits Star Neal McDonough Says His "Intimacy" Rule Cost Him Work for Years: "I Lost Everything"
Neal McDonough is best known to Suits fans as Sean Cahill, a prosecutor who went after Mike and Harvey on the show.
Suits actor Neal McDonough recently opened up about the rough time he had in Hollywood after he set firm boundaries on set. The boundaries, he said, ultimately cost him work for some time before he got back on the horse (figuratively and, in the case of his role in Yellowstone, literally).
The actor is best known to Suits fans as antagonist-turned-reluctant ally Sean Cahill, an SEC prosecutor who first joined the series in Season 4. Prior to his time on the hit USA Network legal drama, the actor made it clear to both the people he works with and the public that, due to his Catholic beliefs, he would not do intimate scenes or kiss other women onscreen who aren't his wife. He noted that the directive did not come from his wife, Ruvé Robertson, whom he married in 2003. Instead, it was a personal choice he’s made for himself as an actor and person of faith.
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This strong stance, he said, led to him losing his role on the ABC show Scoundrels, and, in a recent appearance on the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, he explained how he believes it cost him roles for a few years after that.
“I’d always had in my contracts that I wouldn’t kiss another woman onscreen. My wife didn’t have any problem with it; it was me, really, who had a problem with it. I was like ‘I don’t want to put you through it, I know we’re going to start having kids, I don’t want to put my kids through it,’” he said.
McDonough continued: “Intimacy is a whole different thing for me. So, when I wouldn’t do it and they couldn’t understand it, Hollywood just completely turned on me, and they wouldn’t let me be part of the show anymore. So, 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. My identity was an actor and a really good one. Once you don’t have that identity, you’re in a tailspin. I was in a big, ugly tailspin for a couple of years.”
The actor noted how he started drinking more at that time, but with help from his wife and church, he got back on track and back into acting.
In a previous interview with Closer Weekly, he said it wasn't until he got offered a role as a bad guy on the series Justified that he finally felt secure in his role as an actor once again. Since then, he’s had steady roles on shows like Yellowstone, Arrow, and, of course, Suits.
All the while, he continues to maintain his rule of not kissing anyone besides his wife, even if he's only playing a character.
