Kate Hudson Details The Range Of Emotions She Experienced After The Awards Season For Almost Famous
It's been more than two decades since Kate Hudson played the free-spirited Penny Lane in the cult-favorite film "Almost Famous," but the actor still looks fondly on her experience as if it was yesterday. According to the Fabletics founder, being in the film had been transformative for her — almost as if she had a second coming of age.
Funny enough, Hudson wasn't initially slated to play Penny Lane. She was originally cast to play Anita, a role that eventually went to Zooey Deschanel. "I turned down two pretty big parts at that time to work with Cameron. I didn't care what I was doing, I just wanted to be in a Cameron Crowe movie," she told Entertainment Weekly. "I asked him if I could audition for Penny Lane and he was hesitant, and then finally, he was like, okay, fine. I auditioned again, and then again and then again, and finally, Gail [Levin], the casting director, said to Cameron, 'Okay, enough, we're not auditioning Kate anymore, just hire her!' And he hired me."
It worked out rather swimmingly for Hudson, who eventually clinched a Golden Globe award for her performance, along with an Academy Award nomination. Spoiler alert: She didn't win the Oscar, but what she experienced during that award season would stay with her for the rest of her life.
Kate Hudson said the awards season for Almost Famous was like a 'dream'
In her Variety "Actors on Actors" interview with Glen Powell, Kate Hudson detailed how surreal it was to experience an award season while still getting to grips with the entertainment industry. "I was so young. It was amazing. It felt like a dream," she told Powell, adding that, at the time, it didn't matter that she didn't win an Oscar. "For me, it was the most wonderful coming-out party that you could ever have possibly asked for."
The "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days" star also shared how her mom, Goldie Hawn, and stepdad, Kurt Russell, felt apprehension about her being an actor. "Coming from the family that I come from, my parents' concern was that I didn't understand the peaks and the valleys of what this business really is," she explained, but the awards season changed their minds. "That moment for them was like, 'Oh, she's going to be OK.' Because I felt grounded." She even said that Russell had written her a lengthy letter, which aided her "coming-of-age" experience.
It's no wonder that Hudson holds a lot of love for the film. "Every time I think of Almost Famous, it's just absolute love around it for me," she shared with Entertainment Weekly. "The experience of it was just like no other... I think it [the movie] brings people hope. I think when they see it, they're hopeful for life."