Nelson's first serious acting role, as Robert Redford's manager in "The Electric Horseman" (1979), turned out surprisingly well; the following year he landed his first lead role in the frankly autobiographical "Honeysuckle Rose", for which he also contributed one of his best-known songs, "On the Road Again," followed by a winning supporting turn as an aging burglar in Michael Mann's crime drama "Thief" (1981). The bewhiskered Nelson has since turned in several fine performances, generally as country-western singers or cowboys, roles which neither tax his range nor require him to disguise his likable Texas twang. His best works include the well-crafted Western "Barbarosa" (1982) in which he played a legendary outlaw with a heart of gold; director Alan Rudolph's inside-country music comedy "Songwriter" (1984) with his close off-screen friend Kris Kristofferson (the duo also penned the film's pointedly funny songs); and "The Red-Headed Stranger" (1986) which built its Western story out of songs from Nelson's critically acclaimed album.
Nelson also delivered a fun turn as a songwriting spinmeister in the political comedy "Wag the Dog" (1997), played off of his well-known image as a marijuana advocate in the pot comedy "Half-Baked" (1998) and appeared amusingly as himself in the comedies "Dill Scallion" and "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (both 1999). In 2005 he made a welcome return to the big screen, playing Uncle Jesse in the big screen remake of the TV favorite "The Dukes of Hazzard." Nelson, whose close friend Jennings played the Balladeer on the original series, lent the role his considerable folksy charm, but he was underserved by the script, which required him to delvier too many "Hee Haw" style corny jokes. On the plus side, Nelson struck up a seemingly unlikely friendship with his young co-star Jessica Simpson, and the two performed on stage together frequently to surprisingly good effect when the film debuted.
Nelson has contributed songs to a multitude of films, among them "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Porky's Revenge," "Desert Hearts," "My Cousin Vinny," "A Perfect World," "Forrest Gump," "Michael," "Space Cowboys," "Bride of Chucky" and "Shrek."
Nelson has made many TV appearances, one of them in a rehash of "Stagecoach" (1986) which co-starred Johnny Cash and Nelson's frequent collaborators Jennings and Kristofferson (the foursome also made up the country music supergroup The Highwaymen). His other telepics included "The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James" (1986), "Once Upon a Texas Train" (1988), "Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?" (1988) and, with Kristofferson, two "Pair of Aces" films (1990, 1991). As a full-fledged pop culture icon, he's appeared and performed as himself on countless country music series and specials, and proved a facile raconteur on the talk show circuit. He acted on such series as "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges" and had a recurring role on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," played himself on "Monk" and lent his voice to the animated series "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." As an advocate of the struggling American farmer, Nelson also famously teamed with rock singer John Mellencamp in the mid-1980s to create and headline the long-running series of "Farm Aid" benefit concerts.