The Oscar-nominated 2001 role Kate Hudson was “bummed out” to lose: “I really wanted that part”
It must be devastating for an actor to discover that a part they really want has been given to someone else. What can you do other than mourn the loss of such a great opportunity?
That’s just how Hollywood works, though, and sometimes, failing to secure a certain role carves out a path for an actor to land a much better one, instead. Take Kate Hudson, for example, who was gutted to miss out on an Oscar-nominated role in 2001 – one that she’d fallen deeply in love with.
But sometimes it’s just not meant to be. If Hudson had landed the role, would she have become the rom-com queen she’d soon be known as? The actor had first earned acclaim the previous year for her supporting performance in Cameron Crowe’s iconic Almost Famous, landing an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of groupie and ‘band-aid’ Penny Lane.
With this momentum behind her, she auditioned for the role of Satine in Baz Luhrmann’s musical romantic drama Moulin Rouge!, and it wasn’t long before she became so enamoured with the character, a courtesan whose life comes to a tragic end, and the opulent Parisian world that the film occupies.
Appearing on The World’s First podcast, Hudson revealed, “I really wanted that part and it was written at the time for a 19-year-old girl, I believe.”
But of course, it was Nicole Kidman who landed the role, who is actually 12 years Hudson’s senior. The actor would earn an Academy Award nomination for the role, although Luhrmann has since recalled fearing that he’d lose Kidman to another musical film from the early 2000s, Chicago.
Kidman dedicated herself to Moulin Rouge!, however, even though it left her with some crushed ribs. It wasn’t an easy job, but her work evidently paid off. “What happened was I was sort of in the auditioning process and then Nicole had a relationship with Baz and wanted to do it,” Hudson explained. “And so of course, it was like, ‘I guess Nicole Kidman‘s doing it.’”
Hudson couldn’t hide her disappointment, but that’s just the harsh reality of Hollywood. “[Luhrmann’s] so wonderful. And energetically, I just felt very connected to the way he does things,” the actor said. “So I was bummed out. Of course, [I] totally got it, because it’s Nicole. It couldn’t be more different… I really wanted that part.”
Hudson might have missed out, but instead, she soon landed a string of rom-com roles that would secure her place in the genre, such as How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, You, Me and Dupree, Bride Wars, and Fool’s Gold. These might not have all been Oscar-worthy hits, but Hudson was set with these romantic films; she was the genre’s go-to.
Perhaps there’s still time for Hudson and Luhrmann to collaborate, especially since her most recent performance in Song Sung Blue, a musical biopic about a couple in a Neil Diamond tribute act, earned her an Oscar nomination. That sounds like it would be a dream come true for Hudson, who didn’t even mind how “hardcore” the audition process for Moulin Rouge! was.
