Kate Garry Hudson, an American actress is active in the entertainment industry since 1996, with majority of her projects being romantic comedy films. She rose to fame for playing Penny Lane, the leader of a group of girls, in the 2000 film Almost Famous. Her other notable films are How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Raising Helen, The Skeleton Key, You, Me and Dupree, Fool's Gold, and Bride Wars.
Early Life
Born in Los Angeles, California, Kate Hudson is the daughter of Academy Award–winning actress Goldie Hawn, and actor, comedian and musician Bill Hudson. Her parents divorced when she was just 18 months old, which is why Kate Hudson and her older brother, actor Oliver Hudson, were raised in Colorado and California, by her mother and her mother's long-time boyfriend, actor Kurt Russell. Hudson has an Italian ancestry from her paternal grandmother, Hungarian Jewish from her maternal grandmother, and a mix of English and German, but she was raised Jewish. The actress graduated from Crossroads, a college preparatory school in Santa Monica, post which she decided to direct her efforts towards building a career in acting.
Personal life
Hudson married Chris Robinson, singer of the band The Black Crowes, in 2000, but the couple separated in 2006, and divorced in 2007. Hudson and Robinson have a son Ryder. In 2010, she started dating a band member of Muse, Matthew Bellamy. They got engaged in 2011 and their son Bingham was born in the same year. In 2014, they ended their engagement.
Movie career
After appearing in two television serials, Kate Hudson ventured into the film industry with a role in the 1998 comedy drama Desert Blue, directed by Morgan J. Freeman. In the movie, she played the character of Skye Davis, a rising Hollywood starlet. In the consequent year, she played Cindy in the multi-starrer comedy film 200 Cigarettes alongside Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Díaz, and Angela Featherstone. She was next seen in the comedy drama Dr. T & the Women, along with an ensemble cast including Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, Laura Dern, Shelley Long and Tara Reid. The movie shows how the perfect life of a gynecologist gets disturbed when important women in his life experience troubles, that eventually affects him.
In 2000, Hudson got her breakthrough with her role as Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s comedy-drama Almost Famous. Her character portrayed the life of Pennie Ann Trumbull, an American socialite, businesswoman and entrepreneur, mainly focusing on the time when she worked as a band promoter. She won many awards for this role including Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female – Newcomer, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Breakthrough Artist, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Newcomer of the Year, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress- Motion Picture, and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance, and Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress. Following this, in the same year, she was seen in Davis Guggenheim’s teen psychological thriller Gossip and Gerard Stembridge’s romantic comedy About Adam.
Two years later, Hudson worked in action drama The Four Feathers set during the British Army's Gordon Relief Expedition in Sudan, revolving around the story of a young man accused of cowardice. Subsequently, she was seen in Le Divorce, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Alex & Emma, and Raising Helen. The romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was a box office success with Hudson being nominated for MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance and Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Comedy.
In 2005, she was a part of the superhit horror-thriller movie The Skeleton Key alongside Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. Hudson essayed the character of Caroline Ellis, a young hospice nurse who works as a caregiver at an isolated plantation home and falls prey to the supernatural mystery of the house. Contrary to The Skeleton Key, her next was a romantic comedy film You, Me and Dupree, co-starring Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon. She was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Comedy. The film revolves around a newlywed couple who allow their friend to move in with them after he loses his job and apartment, but the friend overstays his welcome. Hudson then ventured into directing the short film Cutlass starring Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Virginia Madsen, Chevy Chase and Kristen Stewart. In 2008, she featured in the romantic comedy Fool’s Gold starring alongside Matthew McConaughey again. This followed with another romantic comedy film My Best Friend's Girl by Howard Deutch. In this movie, Hudson was seen as the love interest of a help line operator played by Dane Cook.
Bride Wars and Nine were her 2009 movies. For Bride Wars, she was nominated for MTV Movie Award for Best Fight and Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy. Hudson plays a fashion journalist in Nine, with the film getting various nominations. For the musical film Nine, she was part of an ensemble cast including Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, and Judi Dench, and Hudson received appreciation for her dancing skills.
Subsequent to this, she was seen in The Killer Inside Me co-starring Casey Affleck and Jessica Alba. In 2011, she appeared in movies like A Little Bit of Heaven and Something Borrowed. Hudson then starred opposite Riz Ahmed in Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. A political thriller drama that shows the impact of the Al Qaeda attacks on a Pakistani man, the movie garnered worldwide appreciation. Later, she played supporting roles in movies like Wish I Was Here and Good People in 2014, followed by portraying a savvy hooker in Rock the Kasbah.
Kung Fu Panda 3, a 2016 release, uses Hudson’s voice for the character Mei Mei. Her other 2016 projects are Mother’s Day co-starring Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts, and Deepwater Horizon co-starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich.
Television career
Kate Hudson stepped into the entertainment industry with the 1996 television teen drama Party of Five, in which she appeared in one episode of season 2. This followed with an appearance in one episode of drama series EZ Streets. She was the host for one episode in season 26 of Saturday Night Live. Hudson’s television success came from the Fox teen comedy series Glee, in which she had a recurring role as Cassandra July, a dance teacher. In 2013, she was seen in the television film Clear History, followed by television programs like Jamie And Jimmy's Friday Night Feast and Running Wild with Bear Grylls in 2015.