Woody Harrelson GAVEUP weed, UNTIL Willie Nelson did THIS!

Woody Harrelson smoked on and off.

Woody Harrelson has a 38-year film and television career. Yet the seasoned actor is also well-known for his second business, growing marijuana.

In a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the Emmy-winning actor, 61, opened up about his career and let the cameras into The Woods, the cannabis store he co-owns in West Hollywood.

Harrelson, who became well-known as the endearing bartender Woody Boyd on the television show Cheers, thinks his ardent support of marijuana legalisation may have hurt his career.

He explained that when he initially began discussing it 25 years ago, which he referred to as "coming out of the closet on the herb thing," the public didn't exactly react favourably.

"It was not a happy, frolicking, fun response," said Harrelson, adding, "I don't think it helped" his career. "People are just anxious to put you in a little box in this industry, you know?"

What called Woody Harrelson back?

To improve his connections with others, especially his wife Laura and their three daughters, the Hunger Games star quit up smoking marijuana several years ago.

"I wanted to be emotionally available to my family, to my friends. It was a good experiment," said Harrelson, who lives in Hawaii with his family.

But, it was another well-known figure who was able to win him back: Willie Nelson, the father of country music, who persuaded Harrelson to smoke during one of their poker sessions.

"Willie would always act like he didn't know that I quit. I'm saying for, like, the fifth time that day, 'I quit, you know?' And he's like, 'Oh, oh.' I win a big hand. He hands it right to me, and I just grab it and I take a big toke, and he goes, 'Welcome home, son!'" the Triangle of Sadness star shared.

Harrelson didn't anticipate that his acting career would flourish when the long-running television series Cheers ended.

"I thought that was just going to be my career, because six years in I hadn't done any other part. And back then it was much harder to jump off of television into movies. Now, it's kind of an open door, both directions," he explained.

Nonetheless, Harrelson later enjoyed considerable success in the movie industry and even received three Oscar nominations.