Craig T. Nelson celebrates the Packers film “Green and Gold” in Lambeau

GREEN BAY — On a night that brought everything Wisconsin has to offer under one roof through movie magic, it was impossible to pick a favorite moment.

A VIP event for the upcoming release of “Green and Gold,” a small independent film full of Midwestern heart and grit, could only take place in one place – the home of the Green Bay Packers – but on a red carpet in the Lambeau Field Atrium Is a whitetail buck mount included? That is Attention to detail. The Chevy Silverado pickup truck from the film parked nearby and bathed in lights was also a nice touch.

Perhaps it was the few hundred guests who had gathered on the Friday night of a Packers-Chicago Bears weekend, arriving in semi-formal attire with “a splash of denim, Carhartt, flannel or camouflage,” which the invitation called for. There were plaid shirts with bow ties, cowboy boots with little black dresses, bright orange hats, sequined tops, blue National FFA Organization corduroy jackets and Packers gear.

Of course, the starters also included cheese platters. There were bags of popcorn and boxes of movie theater candy to provide a 24-minute preview of the feature film, which hits theaters on January 31st. For dessert? A table filled with nothing but servings of Culver’s frozen custard, with or without a celebratory blue confetti cake pop.

Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens, who plays a radio host at Door County station WDOR in the film, was there. So does real Packers radio announcer Wayne Larrivee, who in the film describes the actions of a team led by Brett Favre in the 1990s.

It was an evening that featured not one famous Craig, but two: Culver’s co-founder Craig Culver, the lovable star of the Prairie du Sac-headquartered restaurant chain’s TV commercials, and Emmy Award-winning television and film actor Craig T. Nelson of “Coach,” “Parenthood,” and “The Incredibles.”

Craig T. Nelson on putting on winter layers in Wisconsin: “I feel like the Michelin Man”

The Hollywood stars of the evening were all Nelson, who plays the Green and Gold protagonist of Buck, a fourth-generation Wisconsin dairy farmer fighting to save his family’s land from the bank and betting on it that the Packers will help him.

The 80-year-old strolled the red carpet dressed for Wisconsin’s January temperatures, including a checked shirt, gold puffer jacket, checked scarf, knit Packers hat and winter boots. If you didn’t know better, he looked like a local who had just walked by after shoveling his driveway.

“I’ve got so many layers on it’ll take me an hour to unpack,” he joked on the carpet. “I feel like the Michelin Man. I have so much baggy stuff on.”

When he addressed the crowd later that evening, he revisited the topic, drawing even more laughs.

“I have three layers of underwear on and they don’t match. Well, they are sinking. Some are moving down, some are moving up, and I’m trying to find the middle,” he said.

It’s a wardrobe that will serve him well on Sunday, when he’ll do two things he’s never done before: attend a Packers game in Green Bay and sing the national team at Lambeau Field. (Predicted maximum temperature: 21 degrees.) He is well prepared for both. He has been a Packers fan since the 1980s and has been singing since he was a child.

The film’s focus on the heartland, values and hard work resonated with star Craig T. Nelson

Nelson, whose wife Doria Cook-Nelson, two of his children and his 45-year-old publicist traveled with him to Green Bay, spoke about his own connection to agriculture and Wisconsin. His great-grandfather from Norway settled in Ettrick, about an hour from Eau Claire, and founded a family farm and a Lutheran church there. The family later moved to South Dakota, where the Nelson farm still thrives.

It was the story of “Green and Gold” that lured Nelson to the low-budget project from debut filmmakers Anders and Davin Lindwall, brothers who grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Five years ago, they set out to make a film that highlights community goodwill and farmers’ responsibility. Partnerships with Culver’s Thank You Farmers Project and the Green Bay Packers helped the film soon open in 1,000 theaters nationwide.

“The most important thing about this film for me was that it represented a feeling and a spirit. It represented the heartland. It represented the language I grew up with, which was values, tradition and faith,” Nelson said.

“I wanted to be part of a project that encourages people. It brings faith, and it brings hard work, and it brings love, and it brings compassion, and it brings meaning, because that’s what I want my children to remember. I want my great-grandchildren to remember that their great-grandfather stood for something. That’s why I was proud to be asked to make this film.”

Nelson hugged director Anders Lindwall during the evening’s program, which also included a short comedy by Berens (complete with references to Grandma Sue, Big Mouth Billy Bass and People from Chicago) and a live performance of music from the film by featured artist S. Carey Grammy winner Eau Claire features Bon Iver, Courtney Hartman, Corey Martin and Natalie Nichols.

To their surprise, Jescey Thompson, Taylor Maroszek, Abel Kooima and Crystal Anhalt, state student representatives for the Wisconsin chapter of the National FFA Organization, were approached on the red carpet by Nelson.

“I remember looking over at Jescey and thinking, ‘Oh my God, that’s the guy from ‘Young Sheldon.’ I didn’t expect that,” Maroszek said.

Filming in Wisconsin, including Door County, felt like a family

Annabel Armour, who plays Buck’s wife in the film, had previously vacationed in Door County, where much of the film was shot in 2021. She appreciated the opportunity to return to work and loved the barns, the cows and getting to know the farmers who taught her things like how to feed a new calf.

She described her time on set as familial and close-knit.

“There was a kindness that I have never experienced before. They’re really, really thoughtful, really kind people,” she said.

Kindness and compassion run through not only the story of the film, but also the process of making it. Anders Lindwall talked about the willingness of choir members from his hometown of Iron River, Michigan, to make the drive to sing in a church scene, about Door County closing roads for filming, about local extras sitting in a crowded church all day , and from… Farmers open their barn doors for them between milking shifts.

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“The community spirit that exists up here is so unique, I can’t tell you,” said Lindwall, who now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. “The longer I live outside of the Upper Midwest, the more I think, ‘This is really, really special.’

“That’s what our film is trying to show. I can’t believe how the community champions people and ideas.”

Judy Pluff of Baileys Harbor was on scene as a paramedic during the shooting.

“Everyone was super friendly. Craig (T. Nelson) came and had dinner and lunch with us. The whole crew just sat down at the tables, and you wouldn’t have thought we were making a movie. Very down to earth,” Pluff said.

“This feeling of closeness is expressed in the film,” says Berens, who describes the film as a tearjerker.

“There’s so much heart that comes through this film, and I think people will really get a sense of what the Midwest is about, what Wisconsin is about,” Berens said. “It’s also a beautiful place to tell stories and film.”

Tickets for Green and Gold are currently on sale. For a list of theater locations in Wisconsin and beyond, visit fathomevents.com/events/green-and-gold.

Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and features writer for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact them at 920-431-8347 or[email protected]. Keep following herX@KendraMeinert.

Craig T. Nelson celebrates the Packers film “Green and Gold” in Lambeau

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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