Craig T Nelson on Working with Diane Keaton: “She’s just remarkable. I’ve known her for quite a while and never worked with her, so it was capturing 30 years of a relationship on screen on the set. How do you validate that? How do you make it real? How do you give it some substance so it appears that that indeed is going on with her husband, that relationship? I think she not only is willing to spend the time doing that, but is so much fun because you get to share a background and history. When I saw you then, what were you doing and who were you with?
It was a wonderful delving into each other’s past to get an idea of the way that these people communicate and have lived together. So there was a dual purpose to it. It’s just great because she’s so giving, so much fun.”
Craig T Nelson Praises His “The Family Stone” Co-Star Sarah Jessica Parker: “Amazing. I think she can do anything. She is so good. I mean, I watched her transform. I thought she transformed. I thought I was watching shape-shifting. What she can do, she can go from stage to big screen to small. I mean, it’s great. And a wide range of characters. I think she’s really facile.”
The Differences Between the Real Craig T Nelson and His Character in “The Family Stone:” “Kelly’s an interesting guy in that he’s allowed the matriarch of this house, although he’s married to this very intelligent and wonderfully witty woman, to run the household up to a certain point. And then he kind of comes in when he needs to. In my house, I think it’s a little bit different. I think that I’m more hands-on than he is. But then I’m seeing… When you come upon this family, you’re seeing them later. You’re seeing them all grown. In my case, I’ve got some younger ones so there’s a little bit more instruction happening.”
Craig T Nelson Admits to Having Trouble Tackling Sign Language: The Stone family cast members had to learn the basics of sign language because one of the sons in their onscreen family is deaf. Nelson says he almost poked his eye out trying to get the hang of it. “You’re in the trailer and you’re working on it by yourself where no one can see. You’re doing the signs and you’re losing dimension, because you’re looking at your face but you’re looking at your hands. The next thing you know, one of my fingers is in my eye.”
Nelson can’t recall which word he was working on at the time of the near-eye poking incident. “I have no idea. I can’t remember. It was a sentence combination, which are the most difficulty. It’s where it’s a multiplicity of words. You can get away with one or two, but when it’s a sentence or a rather complicated sentence, it’s hard.”
Craig T Nelson on Dealing with His Daughter’s Dates: Like most fathers, Nelson has had to deal with meeting his kids’ dates and hasn’t always been fond of their choices. “As a father, it would happen with my daughter mainly. She’s my oldest. But the individuals that she would bring home came from subterranean places. You’ve got to be very careful how you handle those situations - not get physical.
I can remember twice at Thanksgiving, she brought two different guys at two different times. One was worse than the other one. There wasn’t an escalating value but it was just deplorable. They were half dressed, number one. One guy came in a leather - this is Thanksgiving – [and he] came in a leather vest and that was it. No shirt, and pierced. He was pierced more than the turkey was that I was cooking. I just had a hard time dealing with that. Then when he called me dude… ‘Pass the mashed potatoes, dude,’ I just snapped. I was gone. ‘You’re not getting anything. You’re not getting any dinner, you understand that? Thanksgiving is just a name.’”
Craig T Nelson Commands Respect as Mr Incredible: After providing the voice of Mr Incredible in the hit animated movie, “The Incredibles,” Nelson saw his stock rise with his grandkids. “I have with my grandkids, I have immense value now. Oh man, I’m telling you, there’s some power going on and it’s going to last for a while. They watch it over and over. ‘Granddad is Mr. Incredible.’ There’s two people. There’s granddad and there’s Mr. Incredible. When Mr. Incredible talks, they listen. When granddad gets on the phone, whatever. So it’s great.”
