'Coach' star Craig T. Nelson says farm life is key to finding 'American values'

Craig T. Nelson has been a fixture connected TV and movie screens since the 1980s, but earlier that, helium was surviving a elemental beingness successful an off-grid compartment successful Northern California.

"It was a hunt for meaning. And I had mislaid it successful Hollywood," helium told Fox News Digital.

In the aboriginal 1970s, Nelson tried his manus astatine stand-up comedy. He was an aboriginal subordinate of The Groundlings and adjacent appeared astatine The Comedy Store.

But successful 1973, helium near that satellite and, with an inheritance from his mother, decided to acquisition onshore adjacent Mount Shasta successful Northern California with nary energy oregon moving water, and began gathering a compartment determination with his young family. 

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Craig T. Nelson near Hollywood earlier helium adjacent began his vocation to unrecorded a beingness disconnected the grid for a fewer years successful Northern California. (Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

"And that was a seven-year travel of implicit struggle, having ne'er built thing before," helium said. 

A person gave him a publication connected gathering log cabins that "showed maine a weakness and a quality defect that I was carrying, which was a deficiency of patience. And I person nary cognition of however to bash this. And truthful I had to learn. And you larn with a family. I had 2 kids astatine the time. Noah, my youngest son, was calved determination up successful the mountains." 

He continued, "And yet it got done. It got done with community, it got done with assistance from radical that you usually wouldn't spell to and oregon inquire for help. And I learned, and truthful I was an apprentice plumber. I was a surveyor. I logged. I was a janitor. I taught school. I mean, I did thing I could to marque immoderate wealth and ended up connected nutrient stamps, of course, and had to yet hitchhike backmost to Hollywood and effort to found myself arsenic immoderate benignant of actor."

Nelson’s did conscionable that, becoming a household sanction with films similar "Poltergeist" and aboriginal his sitcom, "Coach."

Nelson, with his "Coach" co-stars Kenneth Kimmins, Shelley Fabares, Jerry Van Dyke and Bill Fagerbakkes.  (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

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Taking those kinds of risks that helium did successful his beingness and vocation helped Nelson link to his quality successful the caller film, "Green and Gold."

The 80-year-old stars arsenic Buck, a struggling husbandman who’s astir to suffer everything erstwhile helium makes a bold stake connected the Green Bay Packers going each the mode to the Super Bowl. As helium takes that chance, his granddaughter, played by Madison Lawlor, looks to permission the workplace and prosecute a philharmonic career.

WATCH: 'COACH' STAR CRAIG T. NELSON SAYS TIME ON A FARM IS KEY TO FINDING 'AMERICAN VALUES'

Nelson connected with his quality done their respective struggles to find success.

"The aboriginal vocation is each astir that. It's, you know, evading bankers, really, hanging up connected the postulation radical and uncovering ways of talking to them, which gives you immoderate penetration into however vicious that tin be," helium said with a laugh. "The struggle, I think, is wherever you tin surely find identification, astatine slightest successful presumption of the assorted jobs that I had to execute to conscionable get by and marque a surviving portion I was trying to go thing I had nary thought what I was trying to become." 

Nelson's ain aboriginal vocation struggles made him consciousness connected to the struggles to past that farmers face. (Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images)

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"It's the quality of achieving a dream," helium added. "But imagine, I deliberation also, generationally, the families person inherited this beauteous richness and tradition, and there's a batch of story astir that also. But I deliberation trying to support that going and the benignant of unit that puts connected idiosyncratic to effort and marque it work, particularly present wherever they're uncovering difficult[ies]. I deliberation each of that is truthful identifiable."

Nelson said farming is "in my family’s humor for sure," going backmost to the mid-1800s, and helium felt a heavy appreciation for farmers done his enactment connected the film, saying their hard enactment goes into "feeding our state and trying to marque a surviving astatine it."

"The struggle, I think, is wherever you tin surely find identification."

"And the margins that they're surviving connected are truthful small. And truthful you place with the struggle, and the quality of that is, is that wrong that determination is simply a wit and there's a reverence and there's a consciousness of assemblage and… American values, traditional." 

"Spend a mates of weeks connected a workplace and, you know, you'll find retired rapidly wherever your bosom lies," helium added. 

In his relation arsenic a husbandman successful "Green and Gold," Nelson praised the enactment farmers do, saying, "there's a consciousness of assemblage and… American values." (Childe Productions)

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Nelson besides feels that "Green and Gold" is simply a spot of a emotion missive to America.

"We perceive truthful overmuch astir what we're losing and what we request to recapture. And it's each there. It truly is. It conscionable needs a sounding board," helium said. "There needs to beryllium a resonance to it that we perceive and perceive to. And I deliberation successful witnessing the people, the farmers themselves, and shooting the movie successful Wisconsin and Door County and getting to cognize them and getting to cognize their families to a definite grade and what they spell through, I deliberation was not lone reinvigorating, but it was surely inspiring."

WATCH: CRAIG T. NELSON FELT CONNECTED WITH HIS FARMER CHARACTER IN HIS NEW FILM ‘GREEN AND GOLD’

The "Incredibles" prima besides got the accidental to unrecorded retired his dreams arsenic a lifelong Green Bay Packers instrumentality erstwhile helium sang the nationalist anthem astatine Lambeau Field connected Jan. 5. 

"I'm specified a fan, you know, I truly am. And the players, dude, it's unbelievable. I'm implicit connected the sidelines and it's cold… But you don't consciousness it. It's similar the fans are, like, screaming, and they're packed in, and it's like, ‘My God, Lambeau Field,’" helium said with excitement.

Nelson had the grant of singing the nationalist anthem astatine a Green Bay Packers crippled astatine Lambeau Field. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

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By his broadside done galore of his ups, downs and dreams travel existent has been his woman Doria, whom helium joined successful 1987.

Reflecting connected their nearly 40-year marriage, Nelson said 1 of the keys to their occurrence has been, "realizing that I person a person who has my self-interest astatine heart. And I person to larn to listen." 

"Spend a mates of weeks connected a workplace and, you know, you'll find retired rapidly wherever your bosom lies."

He continued his praise, saying, "See, I'm joined to idiosyncratic that's truthful bonzer that she's bewildering arsenic I support discovering things astir her that are magical. [She has] a consciousness of wonderment astir beingness that conscionable keeps maine intrigued. I person a wholly antithetic view. I mean, I tin beryllium there. I tin spell with her, and I tin tolerate that benignant of thing. And I accidental tolerate, for a while, but past I person to spell disconnected connected my ain and get precise despondent and commencement thinking. And I bash that chiefly to get distant from immoderate benignant of reality. But she keeps maine focused, and she keeps maine successful love."

Nelson has 3 children from his archetypal matrimony to Robin McCarthy, and has aggregate grandchildren and great-grandchildren helium does his champion to support up with, oregon arsenic helium enactment it, "You don’t support up."

Nelson and his wife, Doria Cook-Nelson, person been joined since 1987. (Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

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"You know, due to the fact that astatine 80, I'm not moving arsenic quickly, and I'm not arsenic threatening, truthful I don't person that going for me. Speak softly and transportation the large stick? I tin hardly assistance it," helium joked.

But Nelson said helium finds transportation with the aggregate generations successful his family.

"It's truthful intriguing that I'm capable to talk to them and to what they're going done and hopefully beryllium heard. If I person immoderate benignant of connection skills that volition let maine into their sphere for a while," helium said, adding that it is hard to "break through" the telephone addiction.

"I'm joined to idiosyncratic that's truthful bonzer that she's bewildering arsenic I support discovering things astir her that are magical."

"I don't person that due to the fact that I wasn't raised with it, truthful I don't rather recognize it. However, I bash get it," helium said, joking that helium volition "steal their phones" and ticker them "go into immoderate benignant of decompression and jonesing for their telephone."

Nelson joked that astatine 80 helium can't ever support up with his grandkids and great-grandkids, but loves connecting with them. (Justin Lubin/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

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And past erstwhile they kick astir not being successful connection with friends, helium said with a laugh, "Yeah, that’s wherefore you’re present talking to me!"

"Green and Gold" is successful theaters Jan. 31.