Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Boon, Christiane Seidel, Cinedigm, Derek Presley, exclusive, interview, Neal McDonough, Tommy Flanagan

Boon Star Neal McDonough on Developing His Passion Project Franchise

Neal McDonough has been active for well over 30 years in Hollywood. Appearing in over 130 projects throughout his diverse career across film and television, the grind can get draining especially when you get typecast. Working alongside writer and director Derek Presley, the actor is happy to find a role to break that mold of playing villains in Nick Boon, and it started with 2021's Red Stone. I spoke with McDonough about his latest neo-western in Boon for Cinedigm, the second of the films he hopes grows into something more. The film finds his character trying to atone for his life as an enforcer for a ruthless syndicate. Running from his past, Boon moves to a remote area in the Pacific Northwest, where he meets a struggling widow (Christiane Seidel) and her son. When he finds the pair living in fear of a criminal kingpin (Tommy Flanagan), Boon realizes the only way to protect them is to do what he does best: kill.

Bleeding Cool: How was Boon developed from Red Stone?

Neal McDonough: 'Red Stone' was a southern crime drama thriller with myself and Michael Cudlitz. Three quarters the way through a little bit deeper [filming], [Derek and I] started talking about how we could take this character, Nick Boon, and keep it rolling. Maybe we do a different storyline and move into more of a neo-western action type of film. We started writing it, and then my wife Ruve [McDonough] jumped on board and found the financing. Then before you know it, she's calling Tommy Flanagan and calling all the different actors. You have James Madio, Christiane Seidel, Christina Ochoa, Gabrielle Carteris, everyone, and before you know it, we had everyone.

I get to play a faith-based or faith-friendly type of character who grapples with his faith and grapples with who he is in life. This is a fascinating thing for me because that's me being a devout Catholic; I'm always grappling with what's the right thing to do. We're all sinners, and we're all trying to be our best and get to play characters like Nick Boon, who really tries to do his best in the face of real adversity, and I love that. We really try to make this a McDonough family production and get everyone involved in the cast and crew. After years of playing villains because I wouldn't do sex scenes, I finally get to play the hero in movies, and listen; I can't tell you how blessed and happy I am to be able to do that.

BC: How did you end up making the character your own from Derek's idea?

McDonough: In Red Stone, [Derek] wanted me to play the villain, and I called my agent, and this is a phenomenal script. I like a hero role. [He told me] 'Well, I think it's cast.' So I called up and said, 'I'd like to play the hero. It's not about the money, and it's about the character, and this to me is it's really close to home with me.' They really infused a little more religion into him since he's at the lake. He is at the moment of the crisis, and there are his rosary beads hanging around his neck. For me, that was a moment for me to say, 'OK, I can infuse my faith into these types of films.' Then, we just kind of blew it open in part two, and I'm so happy that we did because part two I really loved. 'Red Stone' and 'Boon' are great films, and I'm really proud of it because my wife and I really put our heart and soul into it."

BC: What is the biggest problem you see in films today?

McDonough: I think what's going on with the landscape of filming nowadays. If there's a hero, it's so dark. I'm guilty of it because I've been part of them. But it's so dark, and it's hard for me, who likes the old-style of filming as a 70s cinephile. That's my wheelhouse, and I love where there's a definitive good guy and bad guy. The good guy…something tragic happens in his life, and how does he deal with it? I love the simplicity of those films. You go back and go back to 'Death Wish' for us; it was so good in that because it was a simple formula or you go back to Westerns like 'The Cowboys', one of John Wayne's last films is a simple formula. He has to move his herd across. Guys won't do it, so we have to hire these young kids to move this cattle. There's Bruce Dern as the villain and say, 'Hey, let's just kill these kids and then kill Mr. Anderson and take his cattle.'

I like the simplicity of these messages. Also, for me, giving glory to God in my projects, I get to talk about faith and really have dramatic painful situations to deal with. That is the storytelling that I love. It's more of an old school storytelling where now everything's so over the top and angst-ridden, and it's hard for me to watch it, or it's so sweet and nice and doesn't really touch upon issues. I'll just touch on issues. I like to talk about real things that happen. People die, and how does it happen? How does that affect the players in this play? That's what I like to talk about, and that's the drama for me, which is real, more human, real-life stuff. That's what now I get to do in a western or neo-western setting, which is my wheelhouse of what I've always loved. This is a great time for me, and I couldn't be happier and more blessed."

Boon, which also stars Jason Scott Lee, comes to theaters, on-demand, and digital on April 1st.

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