‘God first and country first’: Neal McDonough hopes film inspires new generation to serve

For Catholic actor Neal McDonough, the story of Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart is about more than fame or military heroism. Itʼs also a story of faith, sacrifice, and the importance of putting God and country before oneself.

McDonough portrays Alexander Stewart, Jimmy Stewart’s father, in the new film “Jimmy,” produced by Papaian Studios and Burns & Co. The film, which premiered Nov. 6, explores the transformative time of Stewart’s service in World War II as a bomber pilot and how this experience impacted his portrayal of George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Alexander Stewart, who served in the Spanish-American War and World War I, had a profound influence on his son and inspired Jimmyʼs desire to serve his country. Before Jimmy went to war, his father slipped a handwritten letter — a copy of Psalm 91 — and a devotional into Jimmy’s pocket. Jimmy carried and read these items before every single bombing mission he went on during his service in World War II.

That scene of a father passing down his faith to his son resonated with McDonough, who has sought to do the same with his wife, Ruvé, in raising their five children.

In an interview with EWTN News, McDonough shared that while his daughter Catherine was playing volleyball in college, she wrote a verse from Philippians on her shoe and his son, who is a baseball pitcher, always draws a cross in the dirt on the pitcher’s mound before he begins to pitch.

“It makes me think, ‘OK, my wife Ruvé and I did the right thing,’” he said. “We brought our kids up correctly that theyʼre putting God first and country first before themselves.”

With this in mind, McDonough pointed out that young people today need more examples of what it looks like to put something bigger than yourself first.

“Nowadays, weʼre pretty selfish about a lot of things, not just in America, all over the world. Social media has kind of ruined a lot of kids and a lot of thought processes … I canʼt imagine being 16 years old and looking at a phone and thinking, ‘I could never be as cool or as pretty or as handsome as that person,’ or ‘Gosh, Iʼm a loser.’ Wow, what a horrible way to start your day,” he shared.

He added: “We need to have more heroes. We need to have films where kids can go to a movie theater and think, ‘Oh wow, that dude did it. I can do it, too. I can work a little bit harder and not worry so much about what Iʼm wearing or what Iʼm saying or what my hair looks like. I can care more about whatʼs the right thing for the United States of America.’”

McDonough also recalled President John F. Kennedyʼs famous call to service, arguing that Americans need to rediscover the spirit behind the words “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

The actor lamented that this spirit of service has been “lost nowadays,” pointing to declining trust in institutions as one reason Americans may feel powerless to bring about change. However, he encouraged people not to let that discourage them.

“There are great journalists out there. There are some terrible journalists out there, but keep going towards the good ones. There are great politicians out there. There are some not so great politicians — keep going towards the good ones and youʼll weed out the bad things after a while,” he said.

“But if you let the bad ones permeate into your soul and make you realize, ‘Oh, thereʼs nothing I can do as an American. I canʼt change the system.’ Yeah, you can. You can stand up for what is right by being the best version of yourself for God and for your country, not just for yourself. That was Jimmy Stewart.”

Ultimately, McDonough said, he hopes the film will encourage a new generation to recognize the importance of faith, selflessness, and service.

“Itʼs OK to do the right thing. Itʼs OK to put God first before yourself. Itʼs OK to put country first before yourself,” he said. “And in a day and age where people just tear heroes down so much, there are few heroes left. Jimmy Stewart is one of those heroes. And itʼs time for us to start building up some heroes again.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/god-first-and-country-first-neal-mcdonough-hopes-film-inspires-new-generation-to-serve