Neal McDonough’s Father’s Day Advice: Change Every Diaper

If each film and TV show is a job, Neal McDonough has had more than 120 of them.

For the veteran actor in critically acclaimed projects like Minority Report, Star Trek: First Contact, Yellowstone, Tulsa King and his latest film, Angel Studios’ The Last Rodeo, one other role carries far greater weight and importance.

Being a dad.

McDonough became a father a bit later than most men – at 39. But he quickly made up for lost time. He and his wife Ruvé, a South African model he met while filming Band of Brothers in London, are proud parents of five children ranging in age from 11 to 19.

As Father’s Day approaches, Neal offered some unconventional advice to new dads.

“The first year of an infant’s life, the dad is useless,” he said. “The baby wants to suckle up to the mom. But here is the key – change every diaper. They’ll start to see you and smell you. The goofier you are, the more songs you sing, you’ll create this bond that is never breakable.”

Diaper duty and goofy singing has clearly worked for the tightknit McDonough clan. The family travels together as a unit worthy of a glorious golden sunlit Ralph Lauren spread, including at PBR World Finals on a recent promotional swing for The Last Rodeo, which debuted Memorial Day weekend and boasts a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

A standout promotional moment came when Neal jumped onstage with a harmonica to jam with rising country star Annie Bosko to debut her soon-to-be-released song "Country Girls" at Cole Hauser’s Ultimate Tailgate party outside AT&T Stadium, ripping it up to steal the show.

That kind of passion and versatility marks McDonough’s acting career. Lately, he’s been mostly seen as a cold-eyed villain. Now, in the Last Rodeo he’s someone to root for as a retired former champion bull rider with no reason to be anywhere near a bucking bull…except to save a life.

At its core, the new film directed by Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes) is the story of a father, the retired rider Joe Wainwright, reconciling and winning back the love and trust of his daughter, Sally, wonderfully played by Sarah Jones.

One of McDonough’s real-life daughters, Catherine, 18, says her dad is someone “who gives great life lessons. He is easy to talk to. He believes in each of us and makes us believe we can truly do what we want to achieve with God and family and love.”

Just as the McDonough kids are impacted by an ever-present, force-of-nature dad, Neal was shaped by a man who valued hard work and sacrifice.

Frank McDonough grew up on a horse farm in Galway, Ireland, facing tough times after World War II. 

“At that time there was nothing left for my dad,” McDonough recalls. “To help feed the people in town, all the horses and goats were slaughtered for food.”

Laid bare, Frank McDonough left his homeland seeking the American Dream.

Newly arrived in the United States, Frank had 12 dollars in his pocket when he walked into the Army recruiting office and said, “Make me an American.”

He was shipped overseas for five years, came home and became an American citizen.

“My dad was so proud to be an American and carry a work ethic and sense of optimism that my mom also instilled in me – nothing is impossible if, when asked for a dollar’s worth of work, you give them two,” McDonough said.

“To be a father and pass down the same ideals as my father did to me – that chokes me up. I am so proud my kids are so pro-American.”  

The idea for The Last Rodeo came in a lightning bolt-experience on the freeway in Los Angeles as McDonough imagined what would happen to him if something happened to Ruvé.

“I pulled over to the side of the road on the 10 freeway, as this idea popped into my head,” he said. “It was ‘Rocky on a Bull’ for a guy who has to go save his grandson from the same brain tumor that took his wife. I had no idea where the idea came from. I’m fairly certain it was a gift from above. I started writing, and two years later the film is out and doing great. I’m finally a hero. I get to kiss the girl in the end, and that girl is my wife Ruvé. We have made a movie about the heartland of America, and we’re so proud of it.”

That kiss holds poignancy for anyone who’s followed McDonough’s career.

In 2010, he was set to star in the ABC series Scoundrels. Out of respect for Ruvé, he refused to perform a scripted sex scene and was 86’d. No shells in the sand but gone in an instant and then Hollywood-blackballed for a lot longer.

Try to do the right thing and your identity is gouged from our heart.

Acting was all McDonough wanted to do since sneaking into the cinema as an eight-year-old, captivated by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There was something magic about being in the theater, fixated on the screen, giving your all to actors doing the same for you.

Now, as persona non grata for merely standing up for what he believed in, his ability to exercise that gift had been taken away.

“I lost a job, my house, my cars, everything,” McDonough said.

The only thing he didn’t lose faith in was Jameson whiskey.  

“It was hard. It hurt. What happened made me dig deeper and decide what was the most important thing in my life. It was my family and God. That’s what we’ve been writing about.” 

Rolling into Father’s Day weekend, the new bull riding film, co-produced by PBR, is an unqualified hit, more than doubling its production budget in grossing more than $13 million at the box office.

Father’s Day is an occasion for families to spend time together, and movies are one of the most popular ways to do that. The Last Rodeo should see another bump this weekend.

“It’s the ultimate Father’s Day movie,” McDonough said. “A father-daughter relationship is broken, and it’s brought back by faith. Isn’t that the American ideal?”

The McDonoughs will be in Vancouver this weekend – biking, boating and crabbing. They’ll fire up the barbeque and fat cigars, hanging out “with all Neal’s guy friends, a bunch of really good dads,” according to Ruvé. The family also hosts an annual Father’s Day softball tournament, where the dads, moms and kids all play.

“This is the one day of the year fathers get to be celebrated,” McDonough said. “Enjoy it, boys! Celebrate it and keep being great dads to your kids. Raise them well and love them unconditionally, because no matter what else you do, this is the most important job in the world.”