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Actor Neal McDonough brings cowboy grit and faith to the silver screen in 'The Last Rodeo'

"My faith has a huge part in everything that I do," McDonough tells Upworthy.

Courtesy of Angel Studios

Actor Neal McDonough stars in the new Angel Studios movie 'The Last Rodeo'.

Actor Neal McDonough is finally a leading man in his most recent film, The Last Rodeo. Released by Angel Studios (known for the 2023 hit film Sound of Freedom), its the third film McDonogh has starred in with the company, including The Shift (2023) and Homestead (2024).

McDonough, 59, produced and co-wrote the film alongside his writing partner Derek Presley. Once the film was given the greenlight, he knew there was only one director he wanted behind the camera: Jon Avnet.

“he Last Rodeo is really our baby,” McDonough tells Upworthy. “(Avnet) took a chance on me in Boomtown 25 years ago, took another chance on me in Justified, took another chance on me in 88 Minutes with Al Pacino,” he says, adding that he will “get choked up” if he keeps talking about the greatness of Avnet and the work he did with the story and imagery.

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McDonough plays a retired bull rider named Joe Wainwright, whose legendary career ended after a severe neck and back injury in a riding accident. When Wainright’s grandson is diagnosed with a brain tumor, he chooses to exit retirement and undergo a Rocky-esque training journey to compete in the Professional Bull Riding (PBR) Legends Championship with hopes of winning the million dollar prize to help pay for his grandson’s treatment. (McDonough’s wife, Ruvé, also stars in the film as his wife, Rose.)

“If you love bull riding, you’re going to lose your mind when you see this,” says McDonough.

Avnet praised McDonough for his grit and determination to bring a broken character to screen as a leading man. “I believed he was the successor to Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper, John Wayne–pick ‘em,” Avnet tells Upworthy. “Neal has played villains and tough characters most of his life, and he does it as well as anybody.

McDonough notes that The Last Rodeo touches on “the fractured relationships that we all go through in life and how we mend and build them back up through strength and faith.”

Known for his Christian faith (“God first, me second. Family first, me second,” he explains), McDonough references how real-life career setbacks and struggles that impacted his role in The Last Rodeo.

“Years ago I went through a very hard thing where I wouldn’t do intimate scenes in a show and I got fired. For two years I was just wallowing in self pity and drinking way too much whiskey, making it selfishly about my pain and torture–not realizing that I was really hurting my wife and my kids at the same time,” he says. “I thought I was masking it. I didn’t think anyone knew. But it’s easy when everyone sees your house being taken away from you, your car’s being taken away–everyone knows that you’re struggling. I just wouldn’t admit it.”

One day he said to God, “Why have you forgotten all about me?” And within minutes, it was clear that He hadn’t. McDonough received a call from Avnet asking him to play the bad guy that season in Justified, changing the trajectory of his Hollywood career.

“Ever since that moment, I have taken every role that I’ve had and treated it like a heavyweight championship. This is my prize fight. This is my big shot. I’m not going to let anybody down. And that’s my work ethic when it comes to doing film. So my faith has a huge part in everything that I do. Everything that I write, everything that I act in.”

That determination came with him to set. In The Last Rodeo, McDonough also shares his first onscreen kiss with wife Ruvé, making a full-circle moment.

“Our goal was not to make a faith-based film. It was to make a great film,” McDonough says. “That being said, we wanted to have a backdrop of not just bull riding, but a backdrop of faith. It’s not over the top or too preachy. It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian, Jewish, Agnostic, Muslim, Buddhist–we want you to go to the theater and watch a great film."

The film opened in theatres over Memorial Day weekend, earning nearly $7 million at the box office. It is currently playing in select theatres. Check here for showtimes here.

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Joy

This viral TED Talk about being a 'real man' still holds up today

It's still a struggle to go from not being "man enough" to knowing that you are enough.

Warner Bros Pictures/Youtube, TED/Youtube

You are KENough

If you haven't heard actor Justin Baldoni's name, you at least probably recognize him.

Best known for his role as Rafael on "Jane the Virgin," Baldoni is the epitome of Hollywood's "tall, dark, and handsome" stereotype. He is every bad boy with a sinister past. Every womanizing billionaire. Every domineering playboy.

In a talk at TEDWomen 2017, Baldoni joked about the string of characters he's been typecast as (most of them appear shirtless a good majority of the time).

"Most of the men I play ooze machismo, charisma, and power," he said. "And when I look in the mirror, that's just not how I see myself."

Baldoni came to realize that it wasn't just on-screen that he was pretending. In his everyday life, he found himself trying to conform to society's masculine ideal as well, and it all felt like a lie.

"I've been pretending to be strong when I felt weak. Confident when I felt insecure. And tough when really I was hurting," he explained.

The past few years have been a journey for Baldoni, who has set out to redefine for himself what "being a man" is really all about. In his TED Talk, he shared three major realizations he had along the way.

1. "Real men" make themselves vulnerable — not just with women, but with other men too.

Baldoni's early attempts at being more open about his emotions publicly on social media went great — until he realized almost all of his followers were women. Opening up to his fellow men was another challenge altogether.

"If it's about work or sports or politics or women, [men] have no problem sharing our opinions," he observed. "But if it's about our insecurities, our struggles, our fear of failure, it's almost like we become paralyzed."

He recalled recently wanting to talk to his guy friends about a serious issue in his life and needing almost the entirety of a three-day guys trip to work up the courage to do it. Once he did, however, he found many of his buddies were eager to share with him, too.

"My display of vulnerability can, in some cases, give other men permission to do the same," he realized.

(If only there were a TEDMen Baldoni could have given this talk at.)

2. "Real men" hold other men, and themselves, accountable.

As he began to engage more with other men, Baldoni started to become even more aware of toxic male behavior around him. It was everywhere.

He recalls an Instagram comment someone left on a photo of him and his wife. The random male commenter called the photo "gay shit."

So Baldoni decided to message him.

"I said, very politely, 'I'm just curious, because I'm on an exploration of masculinity, and I wanted to know why my love for my wife qualified as gay shit,'" he remembered.

To his surprise, the man responded thoughtfully about how his own displays of affection had been mocked as a child, and he apologized for lashing out.

"Secretly he was waiting for permission to express himself," Baldoni said. "And all he needed was another man holding him accountable and creating a safe place for him to feel. The transformation was instant."

3. "Real men" embrace the good aspects of traditional masculinity — with a twist.

Not everything traditionally associated with manliness is bad. Strength, bravery, and confidence are great things to aspire to (regardless of one's gender). But Baldoni urges men to think deeply about what those qualities really mean in practice and whether, perhaps, there's not a different way to think about spending their energy trying to achieve them.

"Are you brave enough ... to be vulnerable?" he asked. "Are you strong enough to be sensitive? ... Are you confident enough to listen to the women in your life? ... Will you be man enough to stand up to other men when you hear 'locker room talk'?"

Near the end of his talk, Baldoni acknowledges an important point: As bad as the "performance of masculinity" is for men, these rigid gender roles can be far worse for women.

He bemoaned that there wasn't even enough time to get into issues like the gender pay gap, division of household labor, and violence against women — all issues created and upheld by the toxic male behavior Baldoni's fighting against.

"The deeper we get into this, the uglier it gets," he said.

He challenged the men watching and listening to demand better of themselves and those around them.

"If we want to be part of the solution, words are no longer enough," Baldoni said.

This article originally appeared on 12.08.17

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After being frustrated by Hollywood's portrayal of Asians, one woman took action.

'If you want to flip the script, sometimes you gotta do it yourself.'

Do you ever watch a movie and think, "Hey, that person looks just me"? Unfortunately, that rarely happens for this woman.

Meet Michelle Villemaire. She's an Asian-American Do-It-Yourself project guru living in Los Angeles. And don't let her friendly smile fool you — she's actually kinda annoyed right now.

Villemaire is not a happy camper. Photo from Michelle Villemaire, used with permission.

For as long as she can remember, Villemaire has wanted to be a television personality.

But for most of her life, she figured she didn't have a shot because there was hardly anyone on the big (or small) screen who resembled her.

Throughout history, and even today, many Asian characters are played by non-Asians. Villemaire calls it yellowface, and she doesn't mince words when it comes to how she feels about it.

"The practice of yellowface is just plain racist and disgusting," Villemaire said. "It has to stop."

That's why she decided to take on her most unique DIY project to date: calling out Hollywood's yellowface problem in epic fashion.

First, she found examples of white people portraying Asian characters in movies. Then she inserted photos of herself next to them to show the world that Asians can be amazing in the roles that were meant for them.

She called the project "Correcting Yellowface."

"I wanted to feel like I was a part of Hollywood history, if only for a moment," Villemaire said. "I didn't know if the results would look right, but apparently they did."

Check out four stunning examples of Villemaire depicting Asian characters. She appears on the right in all of the photo sets:

1. Luise Rainer playing the wife of a Chinese farmer in the 1937 movie "The Good Earth."

Photos provided by Michelle Villemaire and used with permission.

2. Myrna Loy as the Chinese daughter of Fu Manchu in the 1932 movie "The Mask of Fu Manchu."

3. Katharine Hepburn playing (you guessed it) a Chinese woman in the 1944 movie "Dragon Seed."

4. Yep, it happens in present-day movies, too. Emma Stone played a half-Asian woman in the 2015 movie "Aloha."

Photo by Matt Dusig, used with permission.

But that's not all. Villemaire has even more examples on her website.

Villemaire says the response to her work has been largely positive.

"There really has only been love and support," she said. "It just shows there's a collective desire for this."

Ultimately, her goal is to use her project to inspire the Asian community to never give up on their Hollywood dreams.

"One woman told me that she felt healed after seeing my photos," she said, beaming. "My heart is still fluttering because of that."

Breaking into showbiz is no joke, and Villemaire knows it can be harder if you're a person of color.

"But if you want to flip the script, sometimes you gotta do it yourself," she said.

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How Viola Davis is changing Hollywood makes her Walk of Fame star that much cooler.

The 2,597th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is going to Viola Davis.

The ceremony for Davis, who Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez described as an actress "who always mesmerizes fans with her talent," is set for Jan. 5, 2017.

Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

Davis rose to stardom after 2008's "Doubt," then snagged an Academy Award nomination for her performance in 2011's "The Help," and is currently starring on ABC's "How to Get Away With Murder" ("HTGAWM"). There's also Oscar buzz surrounding her performance in the Denzel Washington-directed "Fences." She's certainly deserving of the honor on merit alone.

Powerhouse performances aside, the news about Davis' Hollywood star feels especially right at this time given that she's often been the empowering, important breath of fresh air Hollywood so desperately needs.

Here are seven reasons to be excited about Davis' star on the Walk of Fame:

1. Davis was the first woman of color ever to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015.

"The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity," she said on stage during her historic victory. "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there." She's got a point: Leading roles for black women are few and far between.

Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images.

2. Davis currently stars on ABC's "How to Get Away With Murder" as Annalise Keating, a queer woman of color — a type of character we don't see nearly enough.

Along with the lack of opportunity for actors and actresses of color, there's also a lack of on-screen positive representation of certain groups within the LGBTQ community. Keating, a successful lawyer, isn't defined by her bisexuality nor does the character fall into the damaging tropes we often associate with bisexual people.

"I loved the relationship," Davis told AfterEllen of Keating's on-screen romance with a woman. "There was something so natural about it. And I just thought it made sense because I think in Annalise’s life, she just migrates toward anyone who shows her love."

3. Davis demanded she not wear a wig, weave, or makeup during a powerful scene in order to better reflect underrepresented women.

"I was so adamant about it," Davis said of fighting to be wig and makeup-free in the scene on "How to Get Away With Murder." "I said, 'Listen, she can’t go to bed with her wig on. She cannot be in that bedroom with her wig on because women don’t go to bed with their wigs on.' And I said, ‘A whole portion of women out there are marginalized. I want to be a real woman. Let’s go for it.'"

GIF via "How to Get Away With Murder."

There's a long history of black women being told their natural hair is unprofessional, ugly, and distracting. Because of these (super racist) perceptions, it's not every day we see black actresses rocking their natural looks on TV. While there's of course nothing wrong with any woman wearing wigs or styling their hair whichever way they please, Davis' decision to go au naturel meant a lot to many women watching.

4. Davis has become a body-positivity champion in an industry that could use a lot of work on the topic.

At the Critics Choice Awards earlier this month, Davis accepted the first-ever #SeeHer Award, which was created by a campaign aimed at ending bias against women in the media. Her acceptance speech, focused on staying true to yourself and discovering the privilege of being who you are, instantly went viral:

"You know, when I was handed Annalise Keating, I said, 'She’s sexy, she’s mysterious, you know?' I’m used to playing women who gotta gain 40 pounds and have to wear an apron. So I said, 'Oh God, I gotta to lose weight, I gotta learn how to walk like Kerry Washington in heels, you know, I gotta lose my belly.' And then I asked myself, 'Well, why do I have to do all that?' I truly believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are, and I just recently embraced that at 51."

Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for The Critics' Choice Awards.

5. Davis has spoken out about the absurdity of women — especially woman of color — getting paid less than men for doing equal work.

Actresses — even the most accomplished, successful ones — routinely get paid less than their male counterparts. It doesn't sit well with Davis.

"I’m sorry, if a woman does the same job as a man, she should be paid the same amount of money, she just should," Davis told Mashable in February 2016. "But at the same time, with me as an actress of color, I have to say to probably contradict myself, that’s not something I think about on a daily basis. Because the struggle for us as women of color is just to be seen the same as our white female counterparts."

6. Davis won't accept the unfair ways Hollywood portrays women of certain ages and body sizes when it comes to their sexuality.

"We've been fed a whole slew of lies about women," she told Elle in January 2016. "[On TV], if you are anywhere above a size two, you're not having sex. You don't have sexual thoughts. You may not even have a vagina. And if you're of a certain age, you're off the table."

7. Davis understands that life is too short to give any credence to the haters. Instead, focus on the people who love you just the way you are.  

"When my father was passing — it was really a short period of time — I think that started the ball rolling," Davis told Oprah in 2012. "You don’t have time. You’re on this earth for a dash of time, really, and then that’s it. ... Knowing that, it just changed everything. I felt like I don’t have any time to stay up all night, worrying about what someone who doesn’t love me has to say about me."

Davis' acting chops are more than enough to land her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, period. But the icing on the cake tastes so much sweeter knowing the star's going to an actress making this world a better place off-screen, too.

Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images.

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