The one role Kate Hudson will always regret turning down: “That would’ve been nice”
After 25 years, Kate Hudson finally returned to Academy Awards prominence after Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue landed the actor her first nomination in a quarter of a century.
It’s also her first ‘Best Actress’ nod, and it’s arguably all the more impressive because the film itself isn’t anything to write home about. It’s a solid enough biopic, but it didn’t set the box office alight, reviews were enthusiastic without being glowing, and the sum of its award season recognition is Hudson’s.
Her performance as Claire Sardina is outstanding, though, even if it’s highly unlikely that she’ll claim the prize. Still, it’s easily her best turn since her breakout and star-making performance in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, with Hudson arguably failing to capitalise on the momentum she had at the turn of the millennium.
Like a female Matthew McConaughey, which is fitting when they co-starred in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Fool’s Gold, there’s always been an excellent performer in there, but the preference for making frivolous rom-coms at the expense of tackling more challenging material took precedence for whatever reason.
One thing Hudson has managed to avoid for her entire career is a big-budget blockbuster of a franchise flick, an increasing rarity in modern Hollywood. She’s had at least one major opportunity, though, revealing that she regretted knocking back an offer to play the female lead in a film that launched a multi-billion-dollar empire in the early 2000s.
“When people say these things, it doesn’t feel good to talk about it, because the people who are in the movie are the right people, and your circumstances in life happen the way they happen,” which is a long way of saying that she turned down Kirsten Dunst’s part in Spider-Man. “But yes, I did.”
Instead, she opted to star in Shekhar Kapur’s The Four Feathers alongside Heath Ledger, which flopped at the box office and fell short of critical expectations. Meanwhile, Sam Raimi’s superhero movie earned $826 million from cinemas, gave rise to a trilogy, and made Dunst a lot of money.
“Now that I look back, it’s one of those things where I’m like, ‘You know, that would’ve been nice to be in the Spider-Man movie,” Hudson confessed. The character has headlined eight solo features and lent support in three more, making Peter Parker’s costumed alter-ego an almost ubiquitous presence onscreen.
Three of those films starred Dunst, and it could have been Hudson. She’s not bitter about it, it’s more that with the benefit of hindsight, it’s an opportunity she may have been better off taking.
