Actor Neal McDonough is a few months shy of his 60th trip around the sun, but the Hollywood star just took on one of the most physical roles of his career, and he says he busted his ass getting in peak shape!

In the movie, “The Last Rodeo” — hitting theaters May 23 — McDonough plays a retired rodeo legend who is forced back onto a bull in a desperate attempt to make money for his family.

TMZ Sports recently spoke with the director, Jon Avnet, and McDonough, who told Babcock he went to great efforts to look like the real deal.

Neal says he left the actual bull riding to the professionals … because getting hurt can wreak havoc on a movie’s production schedule.

“For me, it was mostly on top of mechanical bulls the whole time. They wouldn’t let me ride on [bulls], for insurance purposes-wise, I wanted to like crazy.”

“This is the experience of directing leading men. They all want to do their own stunts, and you gotta try and protect them and the film from hurting themselves and the film from shutting down, and so forth,” Avnet said, adding … “This guy is sadly fearless!”

Even steering clear of the bulls, McDonough says he got “the snot beaten out” of him … though in the end, it was all worth it for Neal, who with Avnet, not only made a great movie, but also had a blast making the movie.