By Michaela Gordoni
Neal McDonough has always tried to teach his five children that it only matters what God thinks of them.
“We teach them, ‘The only thing you should care about in life isn’t what mom and dad think of you, isn’t what your friends think of you,’” THE LAST RODEO star said the Christian Post. “‘It’s only what God thinks of you.’”
“To serve God, and to serve others instead of being served — that’s the antithesis to Hollywood,” said McDonough, who’s experienced being shunned in Hollywood for his faith. “Everyone in Hollywood’s looking to be served, and it’s a lonely existence, ’cause you’ll never be served enough.”
If you ask him about his legacy, he’ll tell you he hasn’t given it much thought. But he has thought about whether he’s positively impacted those around him.
“I’m not sure legacy means really that much to me,” McDonough said. “It’s, ‘Did I do the work for Him? Was I a good brother…Was I a good dad? Was I a good husband? Was I good — all those things?’”
He admits he often fails, but he always tries to persevere and give God the glory.
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One of the things he’s always stayed true to as an actor is that his relationship with his wife comes before his career.
“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 said.
“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,’” he said.
He was booted off of ABC’s SCOUNDRELS because he refused to film a sex scene. After that, he was blacklisted for several years. Now though, he enjoys many roles in various projects.
“I put God and family first and me second. That’s what I live by. It was hard for a few years,” he explained.
McDonough’s newest movie is a Jimmy Stewart biopic called JIMMY, in which he plays Stewart’s father.
“Jimmy Stewart was a man of faith, and a man of principles, and doing the right thing,” he said. “I’m so blessed to be part of a great film like ‘Jimmy,’ and I can’t wait for people to see this film, because it’s one of those films I know people are gonna … really love.”
JIMMY will release in theaters on Nov. 6.
Read Next: Actor Neal McDonough: ‘God Has Given Me So Much’
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