Catholic actor Neal McDonough booted from ABC show for refusing sex scenes

Los Angeles, Calif., Apr 5, 2010 / 19:14 pm

Neal McDonough, a devout Catholic family man known to the American public as one of the characters from "Band of Brothers" and the bad guy on "Desperate Housewives," has been suddenly replaced three days into the filming of ABC's new series, "Scoundrels" last week, apparently for reasons of faith and principles.

Although McDonough's sudden replacement with David James Elliott was officially explained by ABC as a "casting change," several Hollywood sources claim that McDonough was sacked because of his refusal to do "heated love scenes" with actress Virginia Madsen.

McDonough's position is well-known in the industry.  He previously refused to do sex scenes with Nicolette Sheridan on ABC's "Desperate Housewives" when he played her villain husband during the show's fifth season.

He also did not do love scenes in his previous roles in NBC's "Boomtown" and "Medical Investigation."

"It has cost him jobs, but the man is sticking to his principles," wrote Nikki Finke of "Deadline Hollywood," quoting an unknown source.

"You can't help but admire McDonough for sticking to his beliefs, even if he's poised to lose as much as $1 million in paydays for Scoundrels," Finke also wrote.

McDonough, the son of devout Catholic Irish immigrants, has made many television and film appearances, including "Band of Brothers," "Star Trek: First Contact," "Minority Report,"  "The Hitcher," "Flags of Our Fathers," "I Know Who Killed Me," and "Forever Strong."

McDonough is married to Ruvé Robertson, with whom he has three young children: Morgan Patrick, Catherine Maggie and London Jane.