July 17, 2025 • 25 mins
In this compelling episode of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast, host Christian Toto sits down with veteran actor Neal McDonough for an exclusive, no-holds-barred interview. McDonough stars in the provocative new thriller "Guns & Moses," alongside Mark Feuerstein, about a Rabbi who takes justice into his own hands after a brutal attack on his synagogue. McDonough dives deep into the film’s bold themes, its cultural impact, and what drew him to such a unique role.
The conversation also explores how McDonough has stayed true to his Christian faith in Hollywood, including his firm stance on turning down romantic scenes that don’t involve his real-life wife. He opens up about the challenges and rewards of taking that moral stand in an industry that often asks actors to compromise. Plus, McDonough shares behind-the-scenes stories from working with Sylvester Stallone on the hit series Tulsa King, and why collaborating with a cinematic icon was both humbling and inspiring. If you’re a fan of Neal McDonough’s work in films like Band of Brothers, Minority Report, Justified, and more, you won’t want to miss this insightful and heartfelt conversation.
Tune in for a deeper look at a Hollywood actor who’s built a thriving career without sacrificing his values.
--------------------------
"Guns & Moses" - https://gunsandmosesmovie.com
Subscribe to HiT's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodinToto
Read Hollywood in Toto - https://www.hollywoodintoto.com
Lend a hand: Leave a tip! https://hollywood-in-toto.ck.page/products/hollywood-in-toto-tip-jar
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto
Read: "Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul" https://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Bombs-Hollywood-Woke-Lost/dp/1637580991
The conversation also explores how McDonough has stayed true to his Christian faith in Hollywood, including his firm stance on turning down romantic scenes that don’t involve his real-life wife. He opens up about the challenges and rewards of taking that moral stand in an industry that often asks actors to compromise. Plus, McDonough shares behind-the-scenes stories from working with Sylvester Stallone on the hit series Tulsa King, and why collaborating with a cinematic icon was both humbling and inspiring. If you’re a fan of Neal McDonough’s work in films like Band of Brothers, Minority Report, Justified, and more, you won’t want to miss this insightful and heartfelt conversation.
Tune in for a deeper look at a Hollywood actor who’s built a thriving career without sacrificing his values.
--------------------------
"Guns & Moses" - https://gunsandmosesmovie.com
Subscribe to HiT's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodinToto
Read Hollywood in Toto - https://www.hollywoodintoto.com
Lend a hand: Leave a tip! https://hollywood-in-toto.ck.page/products/hollywood-in-toto-tip-jar
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto
Read: "Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul" https://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Bombs-Hollywood-Woke-Lost/dp/1637580991
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Actor Neil McDonough is giving Pedro Pascal a run for
his money. Now you know mcdonnie. You've seen him in
Band of Brothers, in Yellowstone, Justified and more. But lately
it's much more. The dude is busy and fuego, as
a sports commentator might say. He's recently appeared in The
Last Rodeo, which was excellent. He was in The Shift, Homestead,
(00:23):
of course, Tulsa King, The Great Paramount Plus Show with
Sylvester Stallone just on fire, and he's back in theaters
everywhere this weekend. The new film is called Guns and Moses,
and it's about a gun toting rabbi seeking to solve
a mystery that really strikes close to his home and
his heart.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
These murders didn't just happen to some people on TV.
They happened to us, and their.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Killer is still out there walking around among us. If
here that sounds like an unconventional movie, well it is,
and of course maybe one of the many reasons why
Neil McDonough is part of the cast.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Neil has a key role in the film. He plays
the mayor of the city where all this mayhem is
taking place. And I thought, well, this movie's coming out.
I'm intrigued by it. I wonder if Neil would be
able to talk to us for the Hollywood and Total
podcast might as well give it a try. Reached out
to his PR people and they said, yes. I couldn't
be happier. You know, I've been talking to a lot
(01:20):
of stars over the decades, Will Smith, Kevin Spacey, Tom Hanks,
just to name a few, and I don't get ver
klemp too often. I got a little ver clemp with
Albert Brooks. That one definitely was an absolute treau. But
I felt something similar with Neil mcgonnoh. Just a fan,
just admire his work so much, and he's at the
top of his game, so it's just pleased to get
him on the show to talk about some of the
(01:42):
things he's gone through, including how he's stuck to his
faith literally when his career was on the line. Now
I don't know if you know this, but he's a
person of faith and he's a Christian. Turns out he
didn't want to do a romantic scene with anyone besides
his actual wife, and that caused a problem behind the scenes.
He started losing work because of it. You know, when
this happens, it could spiral. I mean, just look at
(02:04):
James Woods. He became a known conservative, people were aware
of his political ideology and the gigs just dried up
and he hasn't had a major role in some time,
and he's a terrific actor. Could the same happen to
Neil McDonough. Well it didn't.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I think there's two things going on there. One, he
just stuck to his principles, and I think that's a
lesson for everyone in Hollywood or outside Hollywood. Stick to
your principles, do what's right, and good things will happen.
But also, he's just so good, such a talented actor,
and I think Hollywood just said, hey, got to keep
working with him. Makes every film that he's in better,
(02:39):
and he does.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
So.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Neil McDonough. I
know I did do. Check out Guns and Moses opening
in theaters everywhere July eighteenth. It is a banger of
a film. It is unconventional, so at least we'll get
into that in a minute, and of course much more.
Neil talks about his career, his life working with the
great Sylvester stallone man this was worth the wait. I'm
(03:01):
so glad I had a chance to talk to him,
So glad he was kind enough to share some time.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
See what you think, Well.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Neil, thanks for joining the show. Before we get going,
you've been busy. I feel like I'm always seeing you.
That's a good thing. Tulsa King in Homestead and the Shift.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And the Last Rodeo.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
You are great in that and of course now we
got guns and Moses. When you're an actor, I know
there are even the best actors have moments where there's
lulls and gigs. But you've been busy. Does it keep
the instrument sharp? Is it a challenge? Is it odd
to kind of bounce from project to project, different characters.
What's it been like for you in recent months.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Well, Christian, I've been so fortunate and blessed my whole
career to always kind of be working, and you know,
from film or TV or documentaries or commercials, and you know,
I'm always just you know, I love working. You know,
God gave me a gift of being a really good actor.
You know, I say all the time, I can't pound
a nail, I'm terrible at jokes, but man, I can
act and that Revey quoted, that made that quote years ago,
(03:58):
my wife, and she's right. So if this is my
god given talent, I'm going to use to the best
of my ability to entertain people.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And so yeah, I keep working.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I keep Now that we're producing our own movies, it's
even crazier as time goes. And we're about to start
a tenth production. Revey and I and the last Rodeo
just killed. It did great in the box office, is
doing incredibly well on sales and rentals on Prime and
Apple and such, and we're really blessed. And I love acting.
(04:28):
I love being part of Cruise. I love being part
of the whole storytelling system. When it comes to Guns
and Moses, it's a film that, you know, to be
part of a film that makes you think is kind
of my goal, you know. I love I love studio films,
don't get me wrong. I love the big action, explosion things,
and that's all fun. But I'm an actor, you know,
and I love to sink my teeth into a character.
(04:50):
Whether it's a good guy or a bad guy, it
doesn't matter. I love to be part of a film
that is thought provoking. Guns and Moses is pretty darn
thought provoking, especially at this time right now now, with
such a mess going on overseas. And you know, I
always say, I'm not a political guy. I'm a God
fearing guy and try and do the right thing to
give him glory and everything that we do, and to
(05:11):
have that kind of outlook is something I think has
lost a lot, you know, in people these days, because
the news makes the world look like such an awful place.
Why would you want to be part of this world,
you know, according to the news outlets. Well, for me,
the world is a pretty amazing place. And I love
meeting different types of people. I love meeting different thoughts.
I've read every book on religion there possibly is, and
(05:34):
they all come down to the same stuff. Honor God
with everything you have, and love your neighbors more than
you love yourself, and serve them instead of just wanting
to be served. If you live like that, there will
be a whole lot less bombs being made, there'll be
a whole lot less wars going on, and there'd be
a lot more people sitting around a table breaking bread thinking, oh, well,
that's an interesting way to look at that. I never
thought of it that way. I don't hate you because
(05:55):
you think differently. I should learn from you because you
think differently, and let's create a common healthy So those
are the films that I gravitate to, and Guns and
Moses exactly that type of film.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, you know, one of the most amazing things about
the project is that it was conceived and I believe
it might have been shot as well, before the events
of October seventh and all of a sudden self defense
and attacks on you know, anti Semitism is on the rise.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Do you look back at it differently?
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Now?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Does it land differently for you as as a performer
who made this project? What how do you kind of
process that that see change? Because it's it's it's a
terrible shift, obviously, but it certainly was conceived in a
different era in a way, even though it's only been
a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, as you know, if you're really look at the
real problem of it, those problems have been going on
for thousands of years.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
You know.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
There have been many time times where people have tried
to erase the Jewish faith from the planet. And if
we forget about that, then shame on us. And I
have so many dear friends who are Jewish I have
so many dear friends with a Muslims, so many dear
friends were Christian. But to forget what has happened to
certain types of people that we're supposed to learn from
it and be better because of it, Well, it seems
(07:04):
like there are a lot of people out there who
are not learning from it and are not getting better
because of it, and making the world worse in some situations.
And what's going on over in the Middle East is
such a horrible situation for everybody, not just one, but everybody.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So you know, I love being able to tell.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Stories where we get to talk about these things and
realize man can be really dumb at times, but sometimes
man can be really great when they don't make it
about themselves. And every time I make something about myself
to serve myself, I fall flat on my face. Christian
every single time. Might feel good for that second, then
as soon as that's done, I'm like, oh, well.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
That wasn't very nice to me, was it.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Or on the other side of the coin, if I'm
doing things that are truly altruistic or truly about other
people and serving other people, at the end of that day,
I'm like, man, that felt good I'm so glad that
I did that. That's something that the films that the
mcdonal company are trying to do to make you feel
that you for feeling of I help serve the world,
to make it a better place. You might call it corny,
(08:04):
but that's who I am. I want to make films
that make the world a better place.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I mean, I think it's really resonating with people. You
mentioned the last rodo doing well. I peaked at maybe
the Amazon Prime like the top ten movie downloads, and
it was in the top ten or maybe top three
or four.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
So yeah, surprise that.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Yeah, So what does that say that America doesn't just
love to see the big tent pulls, you know, smash
him up, explode things types of films. They want to
see thought provoking films that talk to them. The last
Rodeo was a film about family, and the family was broken.
What family isn't broken. Yeah, we've got five kids. On
any given day, there's going to be some kind of
problem going on that we have to figure out how
(08:42):
to fix it. Now, you can figure out how to
fix it through anger, or you can figure how to
fix it through compassion and trust in him.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
That's what the Last Rodeo was.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
The Last Rodeo was a family that was fractured, and
he couldn't fix it because he was making it all
about himself, serving himself and his own self pity. We've
all been there, we have all done that. But as
soon as he gave over to faith and realized that
through him, all things are possible.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
By the end of the film, didn't matter if he
won or lost. He already won.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
And that's what life is supposed to be about. And
I love making films like that. I love making films
like Guns and Moses. I love making films that make
you think about how can I make the world a
better place.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
One of the things I noticed about Guns and Moses
is that it's a bit of a Western. It's certainly
a mystery. There were some action scenes in there as well,
a lot to chew on. There's a lot of redemption
in the film, and even there's an early scene I
don't want to give away too much involving a brownie
and sort of the characters not willing to write off
other people in their lives, even though by all accounts
(09:39):
they should be written off. I thought that was a
beautiful touch to the film, Can you talk about it?
I mean, again, I don't want spoilers for obvious reasons,
but maybe I like that about the screenplay so much,
any thoughts on that particular part of it.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
I think everyone who goes Sees Goes See Guns and
Moses will take something different because there's so many different
ideas going on and there's so many different thought processes.
But I think you'll come out of and thinking hate
is not the right choice, understanding compassion is. And yes
it's a thriller. Yes it's a neo Western, which I love.
(10:11):
You know how much I love my Western look, I'm
like the Western guy. My kids make fun of me, Dad,
Do you have any other clothes but blue jeans? Will
I finally get to do Western? So I finally get
to close and wear the clothes I'm comfortable in. But
it's Guns and Moses has such so many different types
of genres all rolled into one film.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
But at the end of the day, it's.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
About trying to forgive and trying to understand instead of
trying to hate, and taking the people who are hating
and making them realize that you made the wrong choice.
And whether you're a Jewish, Muslim Christian, Buddhist, doesn't matter.
If there are more films like this put out into
the landscape. I truly believe it'll make the world a
better place. And I love that sal went out and
(10:52):
the Limon says, I'm gonna make this film. We're gonna
shoot it for twenty days. We don't have a lot
of film. Let's all do the best that we can.
He got everyone charged up to be the best that
they possibly could. Derham, ul Rooney, Mark myself, everyone else
is in the cast. It's a great cast, and it's
a really great story. And the way he filmed it
was even better. So if you want eye candy, you
want a cool film with a great message, and you
(11:12):
want some action in a neo Western backdrop, you're really
gonna love Guns and Moses.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
And I think it's going to do very very well.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You know, some of the themes are tricky.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
I mean self defense first, and the Second Amendment comes up,
and that, you know, I think this is the kind
of movie your average agent would say maybe you steer
clear of. And I think I suspect you're at a
point in your career where you can kind of leap
in with two feet.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Is that sort of maybe part.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Of the freedom you feel now that you know you
can make your own films with your production company. You
could work with Angel Studios, which is doing zigging when
everyone else is zagging. Is there sort of a sense
of creative freedom you have now or have you always
felt that way?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, my agent and my manager is also my wife,
so thank you know, our conversations are pretty simple. I
have a film coming out this weekend called Skillhouse, and
it's this thriller slasher picture where I play a horrible
character in it, but it's me flexing different muscles and
(12:11):
trying different things. And my dear friend Ryan Kavanaugh prodused
the film and he said, will you do this for
I'm of course I will, but let's let's let's let's
get it. And it was a neat idea that that
I'd never even thought of before. So I love being
parts of different films. I don't want to just do
one thing, you know, So the McDonald company, if it
has a McDonald company name on it, you know it's
going to be a film that has faith in it.
It's about family, it's about overcoming situations. But if i'm
(12:34):
if I'm a gun for hire I'm kind of free
to do whatever I want.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
TV movies, document I did.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
I did a commercial last week and there's me on
horseback for this new company, Horse Soldier, this beautiful, very
old bourbon company that gives their money back to the Vets.
And you know, I needed to be part of that
because I thought it was important. And PBR is part
of it as well. So I'm one of those lucky
guys that get to do kind of everything and with
(12:59):
a smile all on my face and enjoy it all.
And hopefully what I'm doing is making the world a
better place and giving glory to Him and everything that
we do.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
You arisinally have the chance to work on Tulsa, getting
a great story arc and work with Sylvester Stallone. You've
worked with so many great actors. You are a great actor,
but Stallone is a legend. He's such an iconic figure
in Hollywood. He's so larger than life. I'm kind of
curious any reflections on working with him. I don't know
if you've worked in them before, but great scenes together
and the show is just pure entertainment.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I can't tell you how much fun I'm having with
Sylvester Stallone. It's like, you know, it's almost like I'm
looking in the mirror. He's always working out. He takes
his craft so seriously as do I. But at the
bottom of it all, he's a family guy. His wife
is now one of the producers on the show, his
daughter's in the show, and for the mcdona company, you know,
(13:53):
Reve and I prease our own movies, and our kids
are in it. They're either working the stunt department or
craft service, or we'll give him a couple of lines
here and there. But it's a family business, and I
love that family environment. And that's what Sly is. He's
all about his family and doing the right thing and
being a good Catholic. And he's one of not only
one of the greatest actors I've ever been around, he's
(14:13):
one of the greatest human beings I've ever been around.
So to be on Tulsa King on season two and
three and now season four, which will start in October
as the governor of Oklahoma, Now are you kidding me, Christian,
I'm having the greatest time of my life that you know,
ten years ago, when I was going through all those hardships,
when I couldn't get a job because of not kissing
a woman, and you know, I was drinking so much
and just wallowing out my own self pity. If you
(14:35):
said ten years from now you will have produced ten movies,
you'll start a TV show opposite SYLVESTERI Sterlone, and your
five kids will be, you know, doing well at school,
and you'll have this great I would have thought you're
full of it.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
But because I found my faith again.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Yeah, because you know, I went back to realizing that
God has given me this, this amazing life.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
It's a gift. Treated as a gift every.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Single day, and honor that gift, and honor other people
and be a good person.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
All those things.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Here I am, you know, sitting on your show, Christian
talking about my career, and I couldn't be happier. I
couldn't be more humbled by the whole experience. And I'm
going to keep on doing it and going to keep
making great movies for people.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
That's my job.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You know, I know that you talked about kind of
being faithful and not having romantic scenes of people other
than your wife on the screen, and that it cost you.
Do you find that Hollywood today is any more empathetic
to your situation?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Or similar situations.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Is it still tricky to navigate or have you seen
an improvement within the industry where people who are standing
up and saying this is what I believe in and
they're stilling the saying Okay, well maybe not here, it
will work here. I mean, is it has it been
changed for the better?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Well?
Speaker 4 (15:42):
I think the heartland of America was was just lost
in the in the conversations for film and television until
the last several years. And thank goodness for guys like
Taylor Sheridan who have allowed us to get back to.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
The middle part of America.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
And what America was built on was built on the
foundation of family and a faith in God. And you know,
like I say, it says God four times in Declaration
of Independence. It's on our coins, it's on our dollar bills,
it's everywhere we go, and we forget about God because
we're there trying to serve ourselves. Well, that's a dead
end road at some point once you realize that to
(16:18):
be part of the greater good, to be part of
God's family, no matter what your race or creed or
color is. If we really are part of God's family,
we should be rooting for each other and we should
be building each other up and telling great stories that
talk about real life situations and how you can get
through it through faith.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
That's what the Last Rodeo is. That's what my life is.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
And you know, Last Rodeo is semi autobiographical, you know,
really about me and by my struggles that I had
to go through to get to the position I'm in
right now. And how did I get there? I found
faith again. And by finding my faith, my faith doesn't
mean my religion is the right religion. My faith is
there is a God that gives all of this to
all of us for free.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
All we have to.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Do is honor Him and you'll keep on getting all
these free things and you'll enjoy it so much more
and you won't worry about that new shiny widget that
everyone needs to have.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
You don't need it.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
You need love, you need understanding, you need compassion, and
you need to be a good person. And you know,
as corny as that might sound, that's who I am.
That's who we are in our house. God first me second,
family first me second. And that's the films that we're making.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
You know, I'm not the first one to bring this up,
but You've done a lot of different kinds of roles,
but boy, are you a good villain. You're just among
the best of the best. Is there something cathartic about
bringing that to the set and just kind of offloading
it and kind of your darker impulse is kind of
going on the screen and then you come home and
just be a man of faith and caring for your
family and being a good husband and dad. Is there
(17:42):
something kind of pragmatic about that approach?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I mean, I'm just being a villain. You can you
can do anything you want as long as you believe
it right. So, you know, I never believe that any
of my villains are bad guys. They're always just in
everything that they're doing. So did I ever think I
was going to be a bad I came up to
Hollywood to be a comedian, you know, I never thought that.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
But because I want to do sex scenes or kiss
another woman, what does that leave me? That leaves me being, you.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Know, a band of brothers type of character where you're
a soldier in the middle of a war or you're
the villain.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Neither one of those. You have to kiss any women.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
So I said I was going to be the greatest
villain in the history of Hollywood, and that's that was
my job, and I think I kind of got there.
And then for the last several years, when I started
producing films with Reve, we started to rethink it and think, Okay, well,
how can I get to be the hero in films?
How can I kiss the girl at the end of
the movie, because that's what you have to do for
you're the hero. And I finally did that Last Rodeo
because I get to kiss my actual wife Reve in
(18:34):
the film, and.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
So to me, that was kind of the icing on
the cake.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
So but back to the villains, Yeah, it is kind
of cathartic because you get to do all these heinous,
horrible things and it makes you realize, at the end
of the day, boy and my lucky, I'm not that guy.
But the harder ones to get rid of at the
end of the day are the heroes like Joe Wayne Wright.
I'll never get rid of Joe Wainn Wright from Last Rodeo.
I'll never get rid of Buck Compton from Bend of Brothers.
(18:59):
As soon as I the music from Vander Brothers get
I just get kind of emotionally crippled and crushed because
I know exactly the thoughts that were going through my
head every single moment of the film. Do I remember
the lines? No, But do I remember the emotional core
and what I was thinking at the time.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
It's like a paint by numbers. I know exactly what
number that color was. And it's hard for me to
get rid of the heroes because they're much more me
than the villains.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
The villains are just kind of the overtop and fun
and kind of I just killed nineteen guys. That's just weird,
you know. So Yeah, so for me, it's a little more.
It's easier to play the villains. It's a lot harder
to play the good guys because you really have to
dig deep.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
This may be a horrible analogy, but I in my
mid fifties, I started cooking, and I'm really enjoying it,
and I'm also realizing it. It's the most humbling thing
because everything you get right, you do a dozen things wrong.
Now you've had decades of experience as an actor, you're
among the best. Do you feel still like you're learning
as you go picking up different experiences working with a director,
working with a colleague, do you I feel like you're
(20:00):
still a student in a way?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Yeah, I'm always a student.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
You know, Jean clu Keey, one of the greatest skiers
of all time, had had a coach all the way
to the end because you always need to learn more,
always learning more. So I'm always learning more and you know,
acting techniques, you'll you'll laugh. I get bored watching a
lot of movies and TV shows because a lot of
time the direction isn't great, the story isn't great, the
acting isn't great. I'm like, oh gosh, that's just But
(20:25):
every once in a while, I will see, you know,
there will be blood and you'll see Daniel d Lewis
just tear it up. Well, you'll see certain performances in
some films, like you know, there there's a TV show
Henry Danger that my kids just love to watch. And
this this this guy, the one character I forget his
name and that his name is Michael Andria Schwaz on
the show, here's this five foot guy who just steals
(20:47):
the show because he believes so much in the character
and what he's doing. And I love seeing guys or
women just just dive into characters.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
So for me.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
It's it's it's all about learning from other guys or
learning from different techniques, but for mostly it's learning from
life and living a full life. And you know, I
learn more from my five kids than I learned from anybody,
you know, seeing them go through things and seeing them
try things for the first time, receive you know. You know,
there's my daughter, you know, on our first date, and
(21:17):
she I see on her face, oh gosh, what's what's
going to happen here? Or see my son off in
college playing d one golf, and you know what goes
through his head? And you know it's it's those emotions
that I draw from. And the last rodeo, you'll see
in the last rodeo, my emotion is on my sleeve.
It looks like every ten seconds and that Joe Wainwright
is about to lose his marbles and break down and
cry because there's just so much going on in his life.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Well, that's my life, that's your life, that's all of
our lives. Just so much going on.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
But if you give over to trying to understand and
embrace all the emotions as an artist, that's what you
draw from. So I still feel like I'm just really
getting good at acting, you know. It's I'm doing for
so long. But I'll be better tomorrow than I was today,
and I'll be better the day after, probably because I
love doing what I do and I don't ever want
to let the audience.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Down before we let you go.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
You're producing films now, we've seen a few already. What
do you what can you tease or what kinds of
stories are really intriguing to.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
You at this point in your career.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
What's what's missing from the marketplace that your production company
may you know, plug the gap and make possible.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Just good stories, really, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
So the next one, we have The Wicked and the Righteous,
is this big western that I wrote, this epic western.
It's canaan Abel in the West, and we're going to
do that as soon as we finished season four of
Tulsa King. And then I have this this this thriller
film that I wrote with my partner Derek Presley that
we're going to work on next called Mister Pond's. Then
I have this this hysterical gangster film, but that has
(22:47):
all these films have faith in the backdrop, though, so
we're not just making faith based films. We're making really
cool movies that have faith as a backdrop and make
you think, Yeah, and you know we're not going to stop.
You know that we'veere that we're allowed to keep making
these movies. We're going to keep making these movies. You
know in Angel Studios that there are guys and that
I love that Revy and I have an amazing distribution
(23:10):
company and Angel. They're allowing us to write the films
that we want to write and make the films we
want to make. And we're in a really great position
right now. And I couldn't be happier, and I couldn't
be more blessed. And I just the more and more
we go, the more and more I don't want to
let people down, So the harder I work, which is
really kind of interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Yeah, Well, every time I see you on screen, I
know it's going to be an even better movie.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
So I appreciate the chance to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Of course. The new movie is Guns and Moses, coming
out July eighteenth in theaters. Do check it out so much,
to enjoy, so much, to think about a really smart,
engaging story. You could even take away sort of the
real world connections. It's just a it's a great mystery
and it's got some beautiful themes built in within, so
it just works on so many levels. Neil, thank you
so much for your time and I look forward to
(23:54):
talking to you more about other projects.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Thanks Christian, God bless you. See you next time.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Well, the bonus episode of the Hollywood and Total podcast
is in the can And of course I also want
you to check out hollywoodintoto dot com. It is my website,
updated seven days a week. I've been added since twenty fourteen.
Took a little break a few years into it, but
Rush dripe back in and no plans of quitting anytime soon.
I love the site. It is my passion, it is
(24:18):
my home base. It is my mission to cover Hollywood
from a right of center perspective, much like the show.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
That's just what Rush Limmas said.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And of course we don't want to chase away our
liberal friends, and a lot of the content there and
here is a political like this particular episode, but do
check it out because we do need a right of
center look on Hollywood. You're not going to get it
from Variety or Deadline or the Hollywood Reporter.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
I'm going to get it here.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
It is overdue isn't it, Well so for the show
this time around, and of course have a remarkable day
a great week Doctor's Orders
Actor Neil McDonough is giving Pedro Pascal a run for
his money. Now you know mcdonnie. You've seen him in
Band of Brothers, in Yellowstone, Justified and more. But lately
it's much more. The dude is busy and fuego, as
a sports commentator might say. He's recently appeared in The
Last Rodeo, which was excellent. He was in The Shift, Homestead,
(00:23):
of course, Tulsa King, The Great Paramount Plus Show with
Sylvester Stallone just on fire, and he's back in theaters
everywhere this weekend. The new film is called Guns and Moses,
and it's about a gun toting rabbi seeking to solve
a mystery that really strikes close to his home and
his heart.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
These murders didn't just happen to some people on TV.
They happened to us, and their.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Killer is still out there walking around among us. If
here that sounds like an unconventional movie, well it is,
and of course maybe one of the many reasons why
Neil McDonough is part of the cast.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Neil has a key role in the film. He plays
the mayor of the city where all this mayhem is
taking place. And I thought, well, this movie's coming out.
I'm intrigued by it. I wonder if Neil would be
able to talk to us for the Hollywood and Total
podcast might as well give it a try. Reached out
to his PR people and they said, yes. I couldn't
be happier. You know, I've been talking to a lot
(01:20):
of stars over the decades, Will Smith, Kevin Spacey, Tom Hanks,
just to name a few, and I don't get ver
klemp too often. I got a little ver clemp with
Albert Brooks. That one definitely was an absolute treau. But
I felt something similar with Neil mcgonnoh. Just a fan,
just admire his work so much, and he's at the
top of his game, so it's just pleased to get
him on the show to talk about some of the
(01:42):
things he's gone through, including how he's stuck to his
faith literally when his career was on the line. Now
I don't know if you know this, but he's a
person of faith and he's a Christian. Turns out he
didn't want to do a romantic scene with anyone besides
his actual wife, and that caused a problem behind the scenes.
He started losing work because of it. You know, when
this happens, it could spiral. I mean, just look at
(02:04):
James Woods. He became a known conservative, people were aware
of his political ideology and the gigs just dried up
and he hasn't had a major role in some time,
and he's a terrific actor. Could the same happen to
Neil McDonough. Well it didn't.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I think there's two things going on there. One, he
just stuck to his principles, and I think that's a
lesson for everyone in Hollywood or outside Hollywood. Stick to
your principles, do what's right, and good things will happen.
But also, he's just so good, such a talented actor,
and I think Hollywood just said, hey, got to keep
working with him. Makes every film that he's in better,
(02:39):
and he does.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
So.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Neil McDonough. I
know I did do. Check out Guns and Moses opening
in theaters everywhere July eighteenth. It is a banger of
a film. It is unconventional, so at least we'll get
into that in a minute, and of course much more.
Neil talks about his career, his life working with the
great Sylvester stallone man this was worth the wait. I'm
(03:01):
so glad I had a chance to talk to him,
So glad he was kind enough to share some time.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
See what you think, Well.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Neil, thanks for joining the show. Before we get going,
you've been busy. I feel like I'm always seeing you.
That's a good thing. Tulsa King in Homestead and the Shift.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And the Last Rodeo.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
You are great in that and of course now we
got guns and Moses. When you're an actor, I know
there are even the best actors have moments where there's
lulls and gigs. But you've been busy. Does it keep
the instrument sharp? Is it a challenge? Is it odd
to kind of bounce from project to project, different characters.
What's it been like for you in recent months.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Well, Christian, I've been so fortunate and blessed my whole
career to always kind of be working, and you know,
from film or TV or documentaries or commercials, and you know,
I'm always just you know, I love working. You know,
God gave me a gift of being a really good actor.
You know, I say all the time, I can't pound
a nail, I'm terrible at jokes, but man, I can
act and that Revey quoted, that made that quote years ago,
(03:58):
my wife, and she's right. So if this is my
god given talent, I'm going to use to the best
of my ability to entertain people.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And so yeah, I keep working.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I keep Now that we're producing our own movies, it's
even crazier as time goes. And we're about to start
a tenth production. Revey and I and the last Rodeo
just killed. It did great in the box office, is
doing incredibly well on sales and rentals on Prime and
Apple and such, and we're really blessed. And I love acting.
(04:28):
I love being part of Cruise. I love being part
of the whole storytelling system. When it comes to Guns
and Moses, it's a film that, you know, to be
part of a film that makes you think is kind
of my goal, you know. I love I love studio films,
don't get me wrong. I love the big action, explosion things,
and that's all fun. But I'm an actor, you know,
and I love to sink my teeth into a character.
(04:50):
Whether it's a good guy or a bad guy, it
doesn't matter. I love to be part of a film
that is thought provoking. Guns and Moses is pretty darn
thought provoking, especially at this time right now now, with
such a mess going on overseas. And you know, I
always say, I'm not a political guy. I'm a God
fearing guy and try and do the right thing to
give him glory and everything that we do, and to
(05:11):
have that kind of outlook is something I think has
lost a lot, you know, in people these days, because
the news makes the world look like such an awful place.
Why would you want to be part of this world,
you know, according to the news outlets. Well, for me,
the world is a pretty amazing place. And I love
meeting different types of people. I love meeting different thoughts.
I've read every book on religion there possibly is, and
(05:34):
they all come down to the same stuff. Honor God
with everything you have, and love your neighbors more than
you love yourself, and serve them instead of just wanting
to be served. If you live like that, there will
be a whole lot less bombs being made, there'll be
a whole lot less wars going on, and there'd be
a lot more people sitting around a table breaking bread thinking, oh, well,
that's an interesting way to look at that. I never
thought of it that way. I don't hate you because
(05:55):
you think differently. I should learn from you because you
think differently, and let's create a common healthy So those
are the films that I gravitate to, and Guns and
Moses exactly that type of film.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, you know, one of the most amazing things about
the project is that it was conceived and I believe
it might have been shot as well, before the events
of October seventh and all of a sudden self defense
and attacks on you know, anti Semitism is on the rise.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Do you look back at it differently?
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Now?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Does it land differently for you as as a performer
who made this project? What how do you kind of
process that that see change? Because it's it's it's a
terrible shift, obviously, but it certainly was conceived in a
different era in a way, even though it's only been
a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, as you know, if you're really look at the
real problem of it, those problems have been going on
for thousands of years.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
You know.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
There have been many time times where people have tried
to erase the Jewish faith from the planet. And if
we forget about that, then shame on us. And I
have so many dear friends who are Jewish I have
so many dear friends with a Muslims, so many dear
friends were Christian. But to forget what has happened to
certain types of people that we're supposed to learn from
it and be better because of it, Well, it seems
(07:04):
like there are a lot of people out there who
are not learning from it and are not getting better
because of it, and making the world worse in some situations.
And what's going on over in the Middle East is
such a horrible situation for everybody, not just one, but everybody.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So you know, I love being able to tell.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Stories where we get to talk about these things and
realize man can be really dumb at times, but sometimes
man can be really great when they don't make it
about themselves. And every time I make something about myself
to serve myself, I fall flat on my face. Christian
every single time. Might feel good for that second, then
as soon as that's done, I'm like, oh, well.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
That wasn't very nice to me, was it.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Or on the other side of the coin, if I'm
doing things that are truly altruistic or truly about other
people and serving other people, at the end of that day,
I'm like, man, that felt good I'm so glad that
I did that. That's something that the films that the
mcdonal company are trying to do to make you feel
that you for feeling of I help serve the world,
to make it a better place. You might call it corny,
(08:04):
but that's who I am. I want to make films
that make the world a better place.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I mean, I think it's really resonating with people. You
mentioned the last rodo doing well. I peaked at maybe
the Amazon Prime like the top ten movie downloads, and
it was in the top ten or maybe top three
or four.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
So yeah, surprise that.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Yeah, So what does that say that America doesn't just
love to see the big tent pulls, you know, smash
him up, explode things types of films. They want to
see thought provoking films that talk to them. The last
Rodeo was a film about family, and the family was broken.
What family isn't broken. Yeah, we've got five kids. On
any given day, there's going to be some kind of
problem going on that we have to figure out how
(08:42):
to fix it. Now, you can figure out how to
fix it through anger, or you can figure how to
fix it through compassion and trust in him.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
That's what the Last Rodeo was.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
The Last Rodeo was a family that was fractured, and
he couldn't fix it because he was making it all
about himself, serving himself and his own self pity. We've
all been there, we have all done that. But as
soon as he gave over to faith and realized that
through him, all things are possible.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
By the end of the film, didn't matter if he
won or lost. He already won.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
And that's what life is supposed to be about. And
I love making films like that. I love making films
like Guns and Moses. I love making films that make
you think about how can I make the world a
better place.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
One of the things I noticed about Guns and Moses
is that it's a bit of a Western. It's certainly
a mystery. There were some action scenes in there as well,
a lot to chew on. There's a lot of redemption
in the film, and even there's an early scene I
don't want to give away too much involving a brownie
and sort of the characters not willing to write off
other people in their lives, even though by all accounts
(09:39):
they should be written off. I thought that was a
beautiful touch to the film, Can you talk about it?
I mean, again, I don't want spoilers for obvious reasons,
but maybe I like that about the screenplay so much,
any thoughts on that particular part of it.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
I think everyone who goes Sees Goes See Guns and
Moses will take something different because there's so many different
ideas going on and there's so many different thought processes.
But I think you'll come out of and thinking hate
is not the right choice, understanding compassion is. And yes
it's a thriller. Yes it's a neo Western, which I love.
(10:11):
You know how much I love my Western look, I'm
like the Western guy. My kids make fun of me, Dad,
Do you have any other clothes but blue jeans? Will
I finally get to do Western? So I finally get
to close and wear the clothes I'm comfortable in. But
it's Guns and Moses has such so many different types
of genres all rolled into one film.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
But at the end of the day, it's.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
About trying to forgive and trying to understand instead of
trying to hate, and taking the people who are hating
and making them realize that you made the wrong choice.
And whether you're a Jewish, Muslim Christian, Buddhist, doesn't matter.
If there are more films like this put out into
the landscape. I truly believe it'll make the world a
better place. And I love that sal went out and
(10:52):
the Limon says, I'm gonna make this film. We're gonna
shoot it for twenty days. We don't have a lot
of film. Let's all do the best that we can.
He got everyone charged up to be the best that
they possibly could. Derham, ul Rooney, Mark myself, everyone else
is in the cast. It's a great cast, and it's
a really great story. And the way he filmed it
was even better. So if you want eye candy, you
want a cool film with a great message, and you
(11:12):
want some action in a neo Western backdrop, you're really
gonna love Guns and Moses.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
And I think it's going to do very very well.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You know, some of the themes are tricky.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
I mean self defense first, and the Second Amendment comes up,
and that, you know, I think this is the kind
of movie your average agent would say maybe you steer
clear of. And I think I suspect you're at a
point in your career where you can kind of leap
in with two feet.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Is that sort of maybe part.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Of the freedom you feel now that you know you
can make your own films with your production company. You
could work with Angel Studios, which is doing zigging when
everyone else is zagging. Is there sort of a sense
of creative freedom you have now or have you always
felt that way?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, my agent and my manager is also my wife,
so thank you know, our conversations are pretty simple. I
have a film coming out this weekend called Skillhouse, and
it's this thriller slasher picture where I play a horrible
character in it, but it's me flexing different muscles and
(12:11):
trying different things. And my dear friend Ryan Kavanaugh prodused
the film and he said, will you do this for
I'm of course I will, but let's let's let's let's
get it. And it was a neat idea that that
I'd never even thought of before. So I love being
parts of different films. I don't want to just do
one thing, you know, So the McDonald company, if it
has a McDonald company name on it, you know it's
going to be a film that has faith in it.
It's about family, it's about overcoming situations. But if i'm
(12:34):
if I'm a gun for hire I'm kind of free
to do whatever I want.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
TV movies, document I did.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
I did a commercial last week and there's me on
horseback for this new company, Horse Soldier, this beautiful, very
old bourbon company that gives their money back to the Vets.
And you know, I needed to be part of that
because I thought it was important. And PBR is part
of it as well. So I'm one of those lucky
guys that get to do kind of everything and with
(12:59):
a smile all on my face and enjoy it all.
And hopefully what I'm doing is making the world a
better place and giving glory to Him and everything that
we do.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
You arisinally have the chance to work on Tulsa, getting
a great story arc and work with Sylvester Stallone. You've
worked with so many great actors. You are a great actor,
but Stallone is a legend. He's such an iconic figure
in Hollywood. He's so larger than life. I'm kind of
curious any reflections on working with him. I don't know
if you've worked in them before, but great scenes together
and the show is just pure entertainment.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I can't tell you how much fun I'm having with
Sylvester Stallone. It's like, you know, it's almost like I'm
looking in the mirror. He's always working out. He takes
his craft so seriously as do I. But at the
bottom of it all, he's a family guy. His wife
is now one of the producers on the show, his
daughter's in the show, and for the mcdona company, you know,
(13:53):
Reve and I prease our own movies, and our kids
are in it. They're either working the stunt department or
craft service, or we'll give him a couple of lines
here and there. But it's a family business, and I
love that family environment. And that's what Sly is. He's
all about his family and doing the right thing and
being a good Catholic. And he's one of not only
one of the greatest actors I've ever been around, he's
(14:13):
one of the greatest human beings I've ever been around.
So to be on Tulsa King on season two and
three and now season four, which will start in October
as the governor of Oklahoma, Now are you kidding me, Christian,
I'm having the greatest time of my life that you know,
ten years ago, when I was going through all those hardships,
when I couldn't get a job because of not kissing
a woman, and you know, I was drinking so much
and just wallowing out my own self pity. If you
(14:35):
said ten years from now you will have produced ten movies,
you'll start a TV show opposite SYLVESTERI Sterlone, and your
five kids will be, you know, doing well at school,
and you'll have this great I would have thought you're
full of it.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
But because I found my faith again.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Yeah, because you know, I went back to realizing that
God has given me this, this amazing life.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
It's a gift. Treated as a gift every.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Single day, and honor that gift, and honor other people
and be a good person.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
All those things.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Here I am, you know, sitting on your show, Christian
talking about my career, and I couldn't be happier. I
couldn't be more humbled by the whole experience. And I'm
going to keep on doing it and going to keep
making great movies for people.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
That's my job.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You know, I know that you talked about kind of
being faithful and not having romantic scenes of people other
than your wife on the screen, and that it cost you.
Do you find that Hollywood today is any more empathetic
to your situation?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Or similar situations.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Is it still tricky to navigate or have you seen
an improvement within the industry where people who are standing
up and saying this is what I believe in and
they're stilling the saying Okay, well maybe not here, it
will work here. I mean, is it has it been
changed for the better?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Well?
Speaker 4 (15:42):
I think the heartland of America was was just lost
in the in the conversations for film and television until
the last several years. And thank goodness for guys like
Taylor Sheridan who have allowed us to get back to.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
The middle part of America.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
And what America was built on was built on the
foundation of family and a faith in God. And you know,
like I say, it says God four times in Declaration
of Independence. It's on our coins, it's on our dollar bills,
it's everywhere we go, and we forget about God because
we're there trying to serve ourselves. Well, that's a dead
end road at some point once you realize that to
(16:18):
be part of the greater good, to be part of
God's family, no matter what your race or creed or
color is. If we really are part of God's family,
we should be rooting for each other and we should
be building each other up and telling great stories that
talk about real life situations and how you can get
through it through faith.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
That's what the Last Rodeo is. That's what my life is.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
And you know, Last Rodeo is semi autobiographical, you know,
really about me and by my struggles that I had
to go through to get to the position I'm in
right now. And how did I get there? I found
faith again. And by finding my faith, my faith doesn't
mean my religion is the right religion. My faith is
there is a God that gives all of this to
all of us for free.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
All we have to.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Do is honor Him and you'll keep on getting all
these free things and you'll enjoy it so much more
and you won't worry about that new shiny widget that
everyone needs to have.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
You don't need it.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
You need love, you need understanding, you need compassion, and
you need to be a good person. And you know,
as corny as that might sound, that's who I am.
That's who we are in our house. God first me second,
family first me second. And that's the films that we're making.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
You know, I'm not the first one to bring this up,
but You've done a lot of different kinds of roles,
but boy, are you a good villain. You're just among
the best of the best. Is there something cathartic about
bringing that to the set and just kind of offloading
it and kind of your darker impulse is kind of
going on the screen and then you come home and
just be a man of faith and caring for your
family and being a good husband and dad. Is there
(17:42):
something kind of pragmatic about that approach?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I mean, I'm just being a villain. You can you
can do anything you want as long as you believe
it right. So, you know, I never believe that any
of my villains are bad guys. They're always just in
everything that they're doing. So did I ever think I
was going to be a bad I came up to
Hollywood to be a comedian, you know, I never thought that.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
But because I want to do sex scenes or kiss
another woman, what does that leave me? That leaves me being, you.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Know, a band of brothers type of character where you're
a soldier in the middle of a war or you're
the villain.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Neither one of those. You have to kiss any women.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
So I said I was going to be the greatest
villain in the history of Hollywood, and that's that was
my job, and I think I kind of got there.
And then for the last several years, when I started
producing films with Reve, we started to rethink it and think, Okay, well,
how can I get to be the hero in films?
How can I kiss the girl at the end of
the movie, because that's what you have to do for
you're the hero. And I finally did that Last Rodeo
because I get to kiss my actual wife Reve in
(18:34):
the film, and.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
So to me, that was kind of the icing on
the cake.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
So but back to the villains, Yeah, it is kind
of cathartic because you get to do all these heinous,
horrible things and it makes you realize, at the end
of the day, boy and my lucky, I'm not that guy.
But the harder ones to get rid of at the
end of the day are the heroes like Joe Wayne Wright.
I'll never get rid of Joe Wainn Wright from Last Rodeo.
I'll never get rid of Buck Compton from Bend of Brothers.
(18:59):
As soon as I the music from Vander Brothers get
I just get kind of emotionally crippled and crushed because
I know exactly the thoughts that were going through my
head every single moment of the film. Do I remember
the lines? No, But do I remember the emotional core
and what I was thinking at the time.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
It's like a paint by numbers. I know exactly what
number that color was. And it's hard for me to
get rid of the heroes because they're much more me
than the villains.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
The villains are just kind of the overtop and fun
and kind of I just killed nineteen guys. That's just weird,
you know. So Yeah, so for me, it's a little more.
It's easier to play the villains. It's a lot harder
to play the good guys because you really have to
dig deep.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
This may be a horrible analogy, but I in my
mid fifties, I started cooking, and I'm really enjoying it,
and I'm also realizing it. It's the most humbling thing
because everything you get right, you do a dozen things wrong.
Now you've had decades of experience as an actor, you're
among the best. Do you feel still like you're learning
as you go picking up different experiences working with a director,
working with a colleague, do you I feel like you're
(20:00):
still a student in a way?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Yeah, I'm always a student.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
You know, Jean clu Keey, one of the greatest skiers
of all time, had had a coach all the way
to the end because you always need to learn more,
always learning more. So I'm always learning more and you know,
acting techniques, you'll you'll laugh. I get bored watching a
lot of movies and TV shows because a lot of
time the direction isn't great, the story isn't great, the
acting isn't great. I'm like, oh gosh, that's just But
(20:25):
every once in a while, I will see, you know,
there will be blood and you'll see Daniel d Lewis
just tear it up. Well, you'll see certain performances in
some films, like you know, there there's a TV show
Henry Danger that my kids just love to watch. And
this this this guy, the one character I forget his
name and that his name is Michael Andria Schwaz on
the show, here's this five foot guy who just steals
(20:47):
the show because he believes so much in the character
and what he's doing. And I love seeing guys or
women just just dive into characters.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
So for me.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
It's it's it's all about learning from other guys or
learning from different techniques, but for mostly it's learning from
life and living a full life. And you know, I
learn more from my five kids than I learned from anybody,
you know, seeing them go through things and seeing them
try things for the first time, receive you know. You know,
there's my daughter, you know, on our first date, and
(21:17):
she I see on her face, oh gosh, what's what's
going to happen here? Or see my son off in
college playing d one golf, and you know what goes
through his head? And you know it's it's those emotions
that I draw from. And the last rodeo, you'll see
in the last rodeo, my emotion is on my sleeve.
It looks like every ten seconds and that Joe Wainwright
is about to lose his marbles and break down and
cry because there's just so much going on in his life.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Well, that's my life, that's your life, that's all of
our lives. Just so much going on.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
But if you give over to trying to understand and
embrace all the emotions as an artist, that's what you
draw from. So I still feel like I'm just really
getting good at acting, you know. It's I'm doing for
so long. But I'll be better tomorrow than I was today,
and I'll be better the day after, probably because I
love doing what I do and I don't ever want
to let the audience.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Down before we let you go.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
You're producing films now, we've seen a few already. What
do you what can you tease or what kinds of
stories are really intriguing to.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
You at this point in your career.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
What's what's missing from the marketplace that your production company
may you know, plug the gap and make possible.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Just good stories, really, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
So the next one, we have The Wicked and the Righteous,
is this big western that I wrote, this epic western.
It's canaan Abel in the West, and we're going to
do that as soon as we finished season four of
Tulsa King. And then I have this this this thriller
film that I wrote with my partner Derek Presley that
we're going to work on next called Mister Pond's. Then
I have this this hysterical gangster film, but that has
(22:47):
all these films have faith in the backdrop, though, so
we're not just making faith based films. We're making really
cool movies that have faith as a backdrop and make
you think, Yeah, and you know we're not going to stop.
You know that we'veere that we're allowed to keep making
these movies. We're going to keep making these movies. You
know in Angel Studios that there are guys and that
I love that Revy and I have an amazing distribution
(23:10):
company and Angel. They're allowing us to write the films
that we want to write and make the films we
want to make. And we're in a really great position
right now. And I couldn't be happier, and I couldn't
be more blessed. And I just the more and more
we go, the more and more I don't want to
let people down, So the harder I work, which is
really kind of interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Yeah, Well, every time I see you on screen, I
know it's going to be an even better movie.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
So I appreciate the chance to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Of course. The new movie is Guns and Moses, coming
out July eighteenth in theaters. Do check it out so much,
to enjoy, so much, to think about a really smart,
engaging story. You could even take away sort of the
real world connections. It's just a it's a great mystery
and it's got some beautiful themes built in within, so
it just works on so many levels. Neil, thank you
so much for your time and I look forward to
(23:54):
talking to you more about other projects.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Thanks Christian, God bless you. See you next time.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Well, the bonus episode of the Hollywood and Total podcast
is in the can And of course I also want
you to check out hollywoodintoto dot com. It is my website,
updated seven days a week. I've been added since twenty fourteen.
Took a little break a few years into it, but
Rush dripe back in and no plans of quitting anytime soon.
I love the site. It is my passion, it is
(24:18):
my home base. It is my mission to cover Hollywood
from a right of center perspective, much like the show.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
That's just what Rush Limmas said.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And of course we don't want to chase away our
liberal friends, and a lot of the content there and
here is a political like this particular episode, but do
check it out because we do need a right of
center look on Hollywood. You're not going to get it
from Variety or Deadline or the Hollywood Reporter.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
I'm going to get it here.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
It is overdue isn't it, Well so for the show
this time around, and of course have a remarkable day
a great week Doctor's Orders
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