Kate Hudson

0:00From athletic stuff like a full court pickup game, swish, to athletic stuff like a half mile stroll. Get those steps in. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic, Sierra's got it. Your body isn't a problem to fix. It's a system to support. From PMS to pregnancy to menopause. Ollie's Women's Wellness Line is built on real science for every stage. no guilt no stigmas just science-backed supplements that work with you not against you choose science over shame find support at a retailer near you or on ollie.com that's o-l-l-y.com cameron and i where we get along and where we will always love each other and see each other you know when you meet no people and you're like i feel seen it's it's the happy sad you know we talk about it a lot like happy sad together is that's the magic and that's life like life that's what it gives that's what it gives us it can be real happy and it can get real sad and if you can in those moments where it's happy and sad at the same time it's like it's like movie gold or literature gold kate you know you're doing the best promo for the this podcast that's called happy, sad, confused.

1:21I know. Yeah, well, you had to add the confused part. Well, that's just me. That's my go-to. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Hey guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Today on the show, a first-time guest, an Oscar nominee, one of our brightest stars, the one and only Kate Hudson, on the show today talking SongSung Blue and her entire career. Thanks guys as always for joining me on Happy Sag Infused. Whether you're listening, watching on YouTube, watching on Spotify, however you're doing it, I appreciate you guys. Remember to subscribe to the podcast.

2:0112 years, about 700 episodes. We keep on cranking with amazing guest after amazing guest. I do my best on my end and hopefully you guys get a kick out of what I do. Today's a real treat. Kate Hudson is not only one of the most charismatic movie stars, actors we've got on the planet but also just a delight as a human being, a charisma machine, and a really enjoyable chat. This is a fun one. Before we get to Kate, as always, a reminder, check out our Patreon, patreon.com slash happy say I confused. If you enjoy what I do, you get all the early access and the discount codes to our live events, you get merch, all sorts of bonus features.

2:38Check it out, patreon.com slash happy say I confused. it keeps the lights running over here and lets me make more fun stuff for all of you. So check it out if you are so inclined. As for Kate Hudson, only thing to say really is, of course, she is on this Song Song Blue train, which has been going since about Christmas and actually earlier when she started doing press. But this is a really great film from director Craig Brewer, who back in the day did Hustle and Flow. And this is telling a remarkable, crazy, true story based on true events about a Neil Diamond tribute band played by the likes of Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman.

3:16And it is their love story. It has highs and lows. It is tragic. It is funny. It is sweet. It wears its heart on its sleeve. And it's a great piece of work. And Kate really shows off what she can do in this. Not only the singing, but the dramatic stuff, the comedic stuff. It kind of shines a light on all that she can do as a performer. So it is justifiable and appropriate, I think, that she's getting the accolades that she's getting. She is an Oscar nominee this year and it's been a blast this year like on this award circuit. I got a chance to moderate an event with her and Hugh and Craig Brewer that was introduced by Goldie Hawn, her mom, Kurt Russell, her stepdad.

3:58That was a trip. But to hear Kate talk about her childhood and her parents and the way they brought her up and put a level head on her shoulders and taught her work ethic and taught her some perspective despite despite being the ginormous stars they are, is a great lesson, I think, for all of us. So I really enjoyed this chat. I know you will, too. Without any further ado, please enjoy my conversation with the one and only Kate Hudson. Kate Hudson, you're finally on the podcast. Long overdue, but this is for a good cause. Thank you for the time today. It's good to see you. I am so excited. So it's been kind of both a marathon and a sprint, I guess, promoting this movie, putting it out into the world, spreading the good word, a lot of Q &As.

4:44Are you living a real life right now? Are you back to the TV show? I don't know what I'm living. What is life like right now, post-Oscar nom, during, I guess, post-production or production on the TV show? Like, what's happening? A lot. But, you know, I just try to tell everybody that I need like a certain period of time in the day where I could be with my kids if it's at all possible. And then I just tell my kids that this will be over very soon and that I understand that it's hard that I'm not like as present as I normally am. But we're also all having so much fun and enjoying it so much, you know, just because it's such an awesome time and experience.

5:28And so I feel like my kids are kind of enjoying it with me because they know it's special. And so I'm just like, so basically, in short, I mean, it's insanely busy. It is the longest sprinting marathon I've ever done. And I think for me it's a little bit extra because we started promoting this movie for a Christmas movie. Right. So it's like I stopped filming Running Point and then we went right into promoting. And then it's just been like nonstop since, you know, about October. Yeah. So the cadence is a little different than like, you know, a lot of the early festival stuff. Like they do it and they go away and hibernate and live their life and then they come back around.

6:12But for you, it's kind of been nonstop. It's just been nonstop. Yeah. And it's all, look, I mean, you know as well as I do, like, it's rare when it all kind of winds up, right? Yeah. And, like, you know, you were kind of spoiled on that, like, experience and almost famous right out of the get-go. And I'm sure as the, like, years go by, you're like, oh, wait, I knew that was special. But, like, every year that passes, like, oh, that was really, really special. And because I was so young, like, I hadn't really spent many years professionally acting, you know? I was like two years in, or not even, really like a year and a half in.

6:48And so it was more like this, I call it like a big invite to the industry on like steroids. Totally. You know, like welcome to the movie business. you know? And, and so the whirlwind was more like discovering something new versus like knowing all of the people that were there and really understanding and having people that you've worked with and that you've shared so much time with over the years. And now it's such a different feeling because there's so many people that I love to see at these events. And there's like so many people in the room that I've had, like shared months of our lives with and, and best friends in the room, you know, it's like, it's a whole different experience.

7:42And also, I mean, you mentioned family, you mentioned the kids. It's also like, I was privileged enough. I've done a bunch of Q and A's for like all the exciting films this season, but I did a Q and A for you guys in New York and there was Curt and Goldie introducing that screening in New York. And like, I can only imagine how surreal and lovely and bizarre that is for you. I mean, for me, I'm geeking out like, oh my gosh. But like, what's it like to see it through their eyes? Yeah. It's pretty great. Because there's two parts of it, you know, which is that they're my parents. And so all of the, you know, therapy sessions that go with anybody with parents aren't, there's no perfect parent, right?

8:21You know, we all complain about mom or complain about dad. So we have that like, you know, I feel like I have the best parents in the world, but it's still parents. So there's the personal part of that, which is, you know, that those relationships and all of the things that we've been through as a family and how close we are and how much we like love our unit. And then there's like me being able to separate myself as an adult to see everything that they went through when we were kids growing up their work their business their like talent um them as their own individual people as artists you know i as the older i get the more i honor that in them you know um it's like you don't you don't you know as a kid you don't see that you know as an adult you start to really see the full picture.

9:20And I think that we're in this like sweet spot of life where you really like honor each other's, you know, like if you have a really good relationship with your family, I think you really like the support system is so huge. And then I can also look at them and be like, yeah, and they're also some of my favorite actors I've, I know, like maybe I'm biased, but I don't think so. No, no. This is accurate. This is accurate. It's real. And then to see them as like professionals, not just my parents sort of be up there talking about my work or honoring something that I've done. It's like, it's like supercharged feeling of, you know, support.

10:09And it's an interesting thing because you know what goes into putting the work in when you do it, you know, because it does take you away from your family. It is like a very demanding job when it comes to hours and things like that. And it's also incredibly rewarding. And but it's nice to be seen that way from your parents. Like they don't have to not under they really understand this, you know? And I feel very seen in that, which is interesting. No, it's a beautiful thing. And I've heard you also talk, and I find this, I totally connect with this, like having covered movies throughout my career, like how everything does need to line up and how there are like good versions and bad versions.

10:56You go into everything with the best of intentions. And your concern going into this was, yeah, we've got Hugh and and we've got Craig and we've got the right team. But if this doesn't work, this really isn't going to work. So in your head, like what's the version you were concerned about falling into? For Johnson & Blue? Yeah. I mean, I think that also just comes with like, you know, once you've been in the business long enough, you know how hard it is to get a movie made, let alone a good movie made. You know, there's so many elements you're up against. right for this movie in particular there was there are there's so many things first and foremost mine was if the love story doesn't work and you don't believe the love story the movie's not going to work and so there's that and that's huge because huge every time i think huge i think and our movie dream huge he should really trademark that he should make that his thing Seriously.

12:01But but like if you and I didn't work, it would be like, who cares? You know what I mean? And and so that for me was the first thing that I was really like, I really just want to make sure that that connection that we feel comfortable and that we can pull that off, you know. um and then after that i mean we're talking about a very specific tone something that craig brewer does really well like it's in his wheelhouse it's like it's his it's when he's in his pocket you know when he he understood i knew he understood how to make a movie like this like how do you take this these people a neil diamond tribute band who really lean in hard these artists who believe in their artistry be very easy to make a mockery of of people who dedicate their life to something like this but but craig and none of us see their life that way and so you know there's a tightrope that you have to walk with the sequins and the commitment to this experience and their life that if we didn't get it right, you know, it could have just missed.

13:25It's also kind of counter in the best possible way to kind of like our times. I mean, you're looking at like the most stereotypical, like cynical New Yorker, but like I love, I love like movies that wear their heart on its sleeve, right? Earnest films and like films that like aren't afraid to kind of go to emotional places. and this is a film that I think really like rewards you going into the cinema with an open heart yeah without being like sentimental or to or to you know without going leaning so far in that you kind of it becomes sappy you know and I I think like I think that you know life affirming is a great word.

14:08It's that thing of like, life is beautiful, even in its hardest moments. And when those are my favorite kind of movies, like the movies that I, that sit with me, that I could sit in a theater and just cry and cry and cry. You know, they, they range in, in style, but they all have a similar kind of thread of hope and, and like life, like, like that make you look at your own life and go like life can be really good if we choose to make it good you know what what what kind of movies are I'm thinking like James L. Brooks that kind of vein when you when you say that or what are you thinking or like cocoon parenthood terms of endearment moonstruck her I loved you know I think that was a life affirming movie is as depressing as it was about love connection the importance of it you know it's a beautiful mind I could go on but there's this sort of this thing where you have these struggles and life is hard and it comes at you and there's tragedy but what is the threat of hope and what is it that keeps you wanting to connect to the the fundamentals, the thing that like the things that make us feel fundamentally alive, which really at the end of the day is love.

15:39And making movies like that, I think is, you know, hard to get like right in the sweet spot. And so when you hit it, yeah, I really feel like I felt that when I saw it for the first time, I was like, oh my God, these are the movies that that like move me to the point where I want to continue creating movies I want to make movies I want to be in them it's like what inspires me to be an artist um and then when I hear from people that have that that watch this movie and they just can't stop crying it like hits something in them whether it be something in their own life or their own tragedies or their own like struggles or their own sadness and depression that has hard been hard for them to get through you know that you kind of like you're like oh yeah there's movies that we make that are just fun and that we like lean into we love it because we're playing these wild characters and then there's movies that we make because you really want to move people and how the art form can actually like make a difference in someone's life and that's what this movie feels like for me.

16:50It's very, and it doesn't happen very often, you know? We'll be right back with more Happy, Sad, Confused. So some of you may think what you see and hear on the podcast is the total me. The truth is I get super stressed like everybody else. Work challenges, the health of a loved one, it can all feel pretty overwhelming. That's why I'm so happy Rula is an ongoing sponsor for Happy, Sad, Confused. It's one thing to find a therapist you like, but then you're in the problem of actually making sure that they take your insurance. Then there are all those online therapy platforms, right? But the truth is that many of them don't work with insurance.

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20:17You mentioned, you know, obviously it's all about that chemistry, that love between the characters that's embodied by you and Hugh. I mean, I feel like I'm like, you know, co-president along with 10 million other people of the Hugh Jackman fan club. I mean, he's the nicest, he's the real deal. He's like absolutely what he is. He's the greatest human being ever. Like it doesn't, like it's almost like impossible. It almost, like, doesn't feel real, you know? It doesn't feel real. You're like, how is this real? He does seem like, he is that guy that has found what he was meant to be. Like, he's so comfortable in his own skin and is living the life, the dream, in the best possible way.

20:57And I'm wondering, like, I mean, do you, in some ways, like, relate to that? You strike me as someone that feels, like, very comfortable in their skin. Like, you know what you want, you know what you love, you know what you're born to do. Yeah, and we're not dissimilar. Like, we know, and we also know how to take a punch. You know, I think, like, if you're going to be an artist, and we're also good at saying that the punch might have hurt a little bit. And, you know, so I think, like, if you're going to be in the entertainment industry and you're going to put yourself out there like Hugh does, and like I do, and just, like, wear it out there and do the best you can.

21:33And, you know, you have to be able to gracefully take those punches, you know, too. As much as you can, as much as you gracefully take the reward, sometimes there's as many punches as there are rewards, you know. And Hugh is so able and so humble in all of it, you know, and has things he loves in his life and his children and, you know, he and theater. And so he's able to delve into other things and not like, you know, take it on too much. Right. Yeah. And he also, I think where we're also very similar is we really understand the experience really is the thing that you hold on to. Yeah. You know, that that experience of making it and putting your effort into it and putting your all out there.

22:27That's like what that is, what it's really about. And then the hope is that whatever you're making becomes something that you can gift other people. But you don't always win at that. So you just don't know. It's the only thing you can control at the end of the day. You can control your effort. Yeah. And he also doesn't take himself too seriously. I think like I grew up with like, you know, take the take the craft seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously that you can't enjoy the craft. You know, it's like or the process. So it's like, you know, I knew that, you know, the second you start believing your own hype, like you're so screwed.

23:08and so I grew up with a very humbled understanding of how my relationship should be to the industry and Hugh has that innately So you talk about growing up in the industry and understanding the ups and downs probably through the prism of your parents like every other actor that seemingly has had just ups and ups and ups but has had you know, everyone has the moments in between. I'm curious for you, though, like growing up, you don't strike me as somebody that ever went through an awkward phase. What is peak Kate Hudson awkward phase? What was my awkward phase? Yeah, like what years am I talking about where like, oh gosh, she's...

23:52You know what's funny? I was kind of a loner. And what I mean by that is that I felt like when I was young that I was like 100 years old. So it was always hard for me to relate to kids my own age when I was younger. I don't know if part of that was that I grew up traveling a lot with my parents and being around a lot of grown-ups. My parents weren't like, you know, we lived a very grown-up life. So I don't know if that's why, but I always felt like, it's like I came out, I knew exactly where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing. And it was always like a discipline, whether it was dance or singing or theater or sport.

24:41Like I was always so I never felt like I belonged to one crew. And so I think my entire. Like educational experience was awkward. I had friends and like some people would be like, no, that's ridiculous. like she was popular right but internally i didn't feel like i connected really to anyone you know okay like in the years where people were partying i was not partying i was like designated driver you know super like people would think i would probably have been a party i was the opposite i was like you know in dance class and in like theater conservatory and um you know was was any of that connected you think to kind of like the baggage good and bad of having the parents that you did to kind of like oh I have to like I need to prove myself I need to show that I'm not coasting on someone else's name or career I mean if I'm being really honest with you I grew up in LA where I saw kids coast by with parents who gave them everything yeah and I had the opposite parents I think maybe because we grew up like they moved us to Colorado when we were really young that that might have in that being said it wasn't like we were in like you know you know the colorado like back country like we were right outside of aspen colorado clearly privileged kids you know but i do think that my parents were so adamant about how none of it belonged to us like that we didn't earn it that like in order to get a life that we were living we had to earn it ourselves that that would never be available to us unless we had the same kind of work ethic.

26:29And so I think in school, when you grow up and you're in LA kind of, you know, a private school environment, you really do look around and you're like, wow, there's a, there's, there is, I was very aware of the privilege just based on how adamant my parents were. So for me, you know, I really took that to, I was like, no, I can't, I will never rely on my parents. And that was my big thing was like, I will never take a job because of them. I will, I won't, I don't want anybody knowing they're my parents. You know, when I first started, I was so happy. My last name was Hudson. Um, it was like really, really important to me.

27:14You know, my parents, like, you know, I, you grow up and you see kids get cars that you're like whoa like i we were the kids and we're privileged and we're like wow i can't believe their parents like bought them a new car like my parents just raised us the opposite like how they were raised well again and again it seems like yes well but i think with that came like this thing where it's like we were just it was almost like beat into us that if you really want to do this if you really want to act like you have to you have to like put in the discipline and i loved it and wanted to do it so much that i just that i was just very very very disciplined which when you're young i don't think kids really like that you know you're not like considered like the cool the cooler one you know because you're like always doing things you're so you know active and doing things all the time.

28:12I've heard you say, you know, you spent some time invariably on some of their sets as a kid. I was privileged enough. I've had Kurt on the podcast a couple times. One of the few posters I had someone sign for me was my Big Trouble in the Little China poster. So you were on that set, correct? Best set of all time. Best set. Come on. Yeah. Tell me something. Tell me anything. What's that like? Well, first of all, John Carpenter's just the best. Right. He's the coolest. He's the nicest. He's such a legend. And this is where I see my privilege and my opportunity. I got to grow up, like, immersed in what I see as, like, the most magical industry on the planet.

28:57And I got to see it as through a little girl's eyes watching everybody work to make it happen. Not just, like, my parents or, like, you know, a red carpet. But, like, that was not what I was interested in. Big Trimble of China was one of those sets that, like, every single thing was fun. I mean, you know, if you just go back and watch that movie, there was, like, there was a slide that you had to, like, go down because they had to, like, fall down this thing. And then they all fell into all this fish, you know. And they were all these rubber fish. And we used to go down and slide down and go into this fish.

29:32And then we would watch them shoot the scene. And we would see everything. And we were very like, you know, my dad and my parents were very strict about us being on set. We either had to work, we had to do something to earn being on set, or we had to really stay out of everybody's way. But we couldn't just hang around. So on Big Trouble in Little China, like I did all the belts. Like I worked in wardrobe and I braided everything. And I'd go and I'd like put, I'd separate like the clean, you know, clothes from the dirty clothes. And so I felt like I was really a part of the crew.

30:12And but I mean, that set was oh, and I'll never forget, like Kim Cattrall and her. I remember seeing her in her costume and seeing the girls in there when they were like kidnapped and in the thing. And they have that beautiful costume. They were so beautiful. And I'm little like looking at them going, oh, my God, I I can't wait to do this. and the same thing with things like backdraft I'll never forget being on the backdraft set and watching Ron Howard direct just extraordinarily big sequences of fire and dangerous sequences and his how calm he was how specific he was how beautifully kind he was to us as kids and he really is a marker for me of like what it is to be a great artist and a human that art you can still be the kindest, most beautiful, caring man and and make great art.

31:09And passing on again, the best qualities to the next generation. I mean, yeah, I mean, I did. I did both Bryce and Ron did the podcast together last year. And it's just so sweet to see, like, the love and respect and everything. It's just like doing it right. When you grow up and you really honor the industry, you know, you really want to do it for different reasons. that I think how people might see it from the outside, which is okay, you know. They think it's a, maybe sometimes people think it's more about celebrity or fame or, you know. But it's actually not. It's something, it's a different drive.

31:43And when you grow up in it and you grow up with parents that really honor it, you can't help but be like, God, I hope I get to, I hope I get, I hope I'm good enough to sustain a career in this amazing industry because there's nothing more fun. More Happy Say Confused coming up.