The movie Kate Hudson turned down because Goldie Hawn told her to: “So she passed”
Born the daughter of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, it was only inevitable that Kate Hudson would dip her toes into the world of Hollywood, too.
But the question remained whether she had what it took to succeed, and if her Oscar-nominated performance in 2000’s Almost Famous was anything to go by, then absolutely, because she embodied the role of groupie – or as she prefers to call herself, band-aid – Penny Lane to a tee, and dressed in Afghan coats with her curly blonde hair, she became a fashion icon in the process.
Hudson soon established herself as a stalwart feature of the rom-com genre, hitting it big with 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days alongside Matthew McConaughey, a delightfully predictable entry to the canon that, yet again, gave us another iconic cinematic fashion moment in the form of that yellow dress.
Appearing in everything from Bride Wars to Something Borrowed, it’s hard to see Hudson as anything else than a romantic comedy lead. In fact, she almost broke through into Hollywood with a role in the classic rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You, a movie that would become a popular hit upon its release in 1999, but her mother encouraged her to turn it down.
They say that mother knows best, but in this instance, did Hawn really know what she was talking about? 10 Things I Hate About You might’ve sounded like just another modern Shakespeare adaptation – a cheesy teen-oriented movie full of grand romantic gestures – but the film actually turned out to be so much more than that.
Sure, you might sometimes roll your eyes at Julia Stiles’ Plath-reading, riot-grrrl-listening Kat Stratford, a moody stereotype of a teenager who just isn’t like the other girls – and yes, Heath Ledger’s declaration of love, singing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ on the bleachers, is woefully over-the-top, but the film is a testament to the drama and joys of youth. 10 Things I Hate About You boldly shows us the pathetic and desperate attempts we make as youngsters to find love, and the embarrassing or emotionally-complicated situations we often find ourselves in.
Ledger, before he was the Dark Knight, gives a loveable performance as Patrick, while Joseph Gordon Levitt is the adorable Cameron, whose obsession with Bianca, Kat’s sister, drives the narrative. It’s fun and a little silly, and Hudson surely could’ve given the role of Kat a good go, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Casting director Marcia Ross told The New York Times, “We screen-tested Josh Hartnett, Eliza Dushku, Heath and Julia. But Julia and Heath just had the best chemistry together. I loved Katie Holmes. She was about to get Dawson’s Creek, and we had to make a decision really fast. The other person I loved was Kate Hudson. But her mom didn’t like the script for her, so she passed.”
It seems like, before she was famous, Hudson relied on her mother’s approval. While that’s certainly a smart approach to your career when you’re young, perhaps she shouldn’t have listened this time, because 10 Things I Hate About You was an instant success.
