Kate Hudson Opens Up About How an Acting Role Nearly Led to Her Emancipation

The actress recalled a significant turning point in her acting career, which almost led her to leave her family to start life as an adult.

Kate Hudson earned her big break playing the character Penny Lane in the 2000 flick, “Almost Famous,” which earned her a Golden Globe and Oscar nom.

The actress explained that although she was initially set to play a minor role in a film project, she had to make a significant investment to properly portray her character. She revealed that the producers and directors of the show had insisted that she cut ties with her parents in order to be able to work as an adult.

Fortunately, Hudson’s mother strongly opposed the conditions that came with her daughter’s casting. The actress was ultimately given the opportunity to take on a role in the teen drama series “Party of Five” on her own terms.

Reflecting on the experience, the actress shared that her mother was supportive of her decision to appear as a guest star in the popular TV show, which premiered in 1994, despite the fact that this required her to miss a couple of days of school for filming.

“Party of Five” followed the lives of five siblings who lost their parents to a car crash and now have to look up to their eldest brother as their guardian.

“I was 16 and obsessed with Party of Five, so walking onto that set was like, I couldn’t believe that I was going to have a guest role on it, a day player role. I was like, oh. It was so fun,” the actress raved about her character on the “Awards Chatter” podcast.

Hudson played the role of Cory, a co-worker to Justin, Michael Goorjian’s onscreen character.

Hudson was no stranger to the glitz and glam of Hollywood. E! Online noted that the actress grew up spending time with her mom, Goldie Hawn, and stepdad, Kurt Russell, on movie sets.

Her mom partnered up with Russell in 1983, one year after Hawn divorced her dad, Bill Hudson, in 1982. This union exposed her to the life of her parents are movie stars in Hollywood, thus shaping her interests.

That interest was reinforced by her experience at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 1999, where she assisted with building sets and setting up productions in the middle of the field. 

“It was this big hippie theater; it was so incredible,” Hudson recalled. She has spoken highly of Russell during interviews, sharing that the trust and dependability she got from him are a priceless gift.

However, Hudson, her brother, and her dad do not have a close relationship. In 2015, her father famously disowned them during an interview, specifically stating that he no longer recognized the actress and her brother, Oliver Hudson, as his children.

The 46-year-old had previously affirmed that, despite being super close with her mother, starring in a project together is off the table.

“You want to talk about baggage! We would love it, but it’s really interesting, unless it’s something great, honey, you don’t do it,” Hawn acknowledged in a 2017 interview.

However, she had once appeared alongside her stepdad in the 2016 movie, “Deepwater Horizon.” The actress spoke about Russell’s phenomenal energy on set, which she witnessed growing up on sets with him.

The actress noted that her stepdad puts lots of effort into his roles in a way that is different from many younger people she has worked with.

She also hung around her parents when they worked on the classic romantic comedy, “Overboard.” Hudson acknowledged that it was a normal sight for them to watch Hawn and Russell do their thing while they chilled on set.

If you did not know, Hudson also sings; now you do! PEOPLE got a confession from the actress last year, right before the release of her debut album “Glorious.”

She described the project as a “lifetime in the making,” adding that music was her first window to the creative world.

For her breakout role as Penny Lane, a playing band groupie in “Almost Famous,” Hudson declared that director Cameron Crowe connected with her music side on set. She noted that the director recognized her musical talent and decided to invest in her as much as possible. In her words:

“I was 19, and he just filled me with all this great music that I’d never heard. That was the beginning of everything for me.”

While her life as a movie star took preeminence, the actress declared that she was ready to finally fully explore her musical talent. According to her, “I’m just happy singing. I really am, even if it’s to a room of 20 people — I’m very happy there.”