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There was a time when Neal McDonough was a rising star among actors.

Then, for a little while, he seemed to vanish — appearing in a few projects, but not so many.

Why was that?

The actor is opening up about how Hollywood branded him as a “religious nut bag” and blacklisted him for years.

‘They thought I was this religious nut bag’

Speaking to Fox News, McDonough recalled turning to alcohol when he believed that his acting career was over.

“What time is the bar open? That was generally my thought process back then,” he characterized.

“It was, you know, fired from a show because I wouldn’t kiss a woman,” McDonough explained.

“No one would hire me because they thought I was this religious nut bag,” he lamented.

“Which is that I love my wife so much,” McDonough continued. “And no one can understand it, no one could understand it.”

McDonough confessed that he “was always a drinker” even before this professional setback.

“It became a bad problem,” he acknowledged, after his refusal to kiss a co-star got him canned — and allegedly blackballed.

“I lost the house, lost the cars, lost everything,” McDonough lamented.

“’Justified’ was just coming out, but I still didn’t think I was worth anything because I failed to my family,” he expressed.

“I failed, [my wife] Ruve, my five kids, that I lost our house,” McDonough reiterated. “I lost all the beautiful things that were the shiny widgets that I had accumulated, were all taken away from me.”

‘It’s us or the bottle, you choose’

Using a very colorful characterization, he continued: “And that crucifixion caused me so much inner pain because I made it all about me. How could I let the team down?”

McDonough gave credit to his wife, Ruve, for giving him the ultimatum that saved him.

“She grabbed me and says, it’s us or the bottle, you choose,” he recalled.

Having now been married to Ruve for 25 years, he says that he “never looked back.”

McDonough went on to say that he has focused upon serving the God of his Christian beliefs “rather than serving me.”

McDonough is not wrong that, to many, his refusal to kiss a co-star became a memorable part of his story.

Even those of us who have enjoyed his acting roles — like in the MCU or his portrayal of Damien Darhk on Arrow (RIP in peace, The CW) — remember this quirk about his career.

Of course, he is not alone. For example, Penn Badgley made a similar comment, despite his starring role on the steamy stalker series, You.

Though McDonough has led a lengthy and successful career that doesn’t appear to have resume gaps like someone who’s been blacklisted might, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t take jobs that were less lucrative.

There is an argument to be made for actors needing to take certain actions on screen, from kissing to eating meat. Some things can be faked by a show, while others cannot. So long as everyone is up front about what they can and cannot do, things should work out.

McDonough also shared that the late, great Luke Perry gave him and his family a place to stay after they lost their home. He was such a deeply good person.