I lived in the East Village for the last four years, so 200 Cigarettes was very nostalgic for me. I lived on 10th and Avenue A.
Oh, no! We shot there the whole time. It's so scary down there. You know, especially because we were always filming at night. Late, late night when all the freaky people come out. During the day, it was great. There was such a good vibe down there. But in the '80s, it was apparently really crazy.


The film takes place on New Year's Eve 1981. In reality, you were only 4 years old at that time. So did you have to take a crash course in the '80s?
No, even though I was just a little kid, I loved the '80s. I had fun. Remember Flashdance? I was all about that. I loved it. I had the rubber bracelets with the glitter in them and those black velvet bracelets that you twist together and you put them all the way up your arm. All my sweatshirts were appropriately ripped.


Did you do the legwarmers?
Oh, my God! I loved the legwarmers. And I had to wear them because I was a dancer as a kid. I remember these striped ones that my mom wore, which I loved.


So how did you break into the business?
I always knew I wanted to do it. And then my dad [Kurt Russell] came to me with an audition for Escape From L.A. And then I started. At that point, I got an agent. I didn't understand the process yet, but I started to get it after auditioning. Ever since then, I've been trying to figure out what I want to do.


Did your mom encourage you to get into the business?
Yeah. But she would've encouraged me no matter what I wanted to do.


What was your first role?
The first role I had was Party of Five. I had a guest spot. Just like a two- to three-day shoot. I broke up Justin and Julia on the season finale. But they never had me back. I guess they didn't like me. [Giggles.] I'm just kidding, I think.


Are you ready to become Hollywood's next big thing?
Yeah, I'm ready. It sounds real cliché, but you just take one day at a time. My plan is to be around for quite a while. So, I'm just going with it, you know? Right now, all this hype isn't coming from the work that I've done. It's mostly coming from my [parentage], which is OK. It's OK. It's what it is. Luckily, I've got something to back it up with.


Your performance in 200 Cigarettes is very reminiscent of your mom's early work. Have you been hearing that a lot?
Yeah. That'll happen. Fine. The comparisons are inevitable. I try to ignore it because I can't listen to it anymore. I've had that my whole life. This isn't just about acting. I've gotten this since I was a little girl. She's my mother. She's a beautiful human being, and I love her to death. But, but, but. She's my mother! People will eventually understand. To me, she's just mom. So hopefully people will get over it really soon.


Do you still live at home with your famous folks?
I do. I actually do. I'm in the process of finding a house, but I can't find one. I'm waiting for the perfect house. I want a garden; boy, do I want a garden. I need to be able to garden when I'm in my weird funky meditation kind of mood. Sitting out and having a coffee and a smoke in my garden. That's what I need.


Smoking inevitably brings us back to 200 Cigarettes.
Yes, I know. I smoke. Isn't that terrible? I'm actually weaning myself off some of them right now. I can get to the point where I can be the kind of person who has, like two cigarettes a week. But right now, I'm smoking way too much. I don't even wanna talk about how many I smoke. Last night, a lot because I went out. If I have a drink, I like to have a smoke, you know? But that's OK. Everything in moderation.


Do you have any other bad habits?
Oh, yeah, parking behind my dad's car, man. It's a really bad habit. I can't help it. I always park behind his car. Kurt always wakes me up at, like, 8 o'clock and yells, "Kate!" I'm like, "What, Dad?" "How many times do I have to tell you?!" And that's a bad habit. I need to stop that. It's weird. And I love candy. I love chocolate.


Do you ever see your birth father, Bill Hudson?
The thing about Bill, my other dad, is that he wasn't really in our lives very much. I didn't know him really well. I didn't understand it. My brother didn't understand it. He was sort of in and out of our lives. And, you know, what's really interesting is that seems to be the darkest cloud around me, and the press has been all over it. I've even been misquoted about it. And it's really hard when you're honest about something, like your relationship with your real father, to see the tabloids starting on it. It's interesting how they pull the darkest things from inside of you. And it's not that dark. I didn't [make it out to be] worse than it is.


So, how many siblings do you have?
I have three brothers. One's older, two are younger. I also have a half-sister on my dad's side.


I saw a picture of you with your mom at a hockey game. Are you a big fan?
You know what? I used to get into it. I dated a hockey player, and one of my brothers plays. He loves it. My dad's a huge hockey fan too.


So … who did you date?
Oh, it's irrelevant. But it was wonderful. It was a lot of fun, but it's over, and that's that.


Are you seeing someone now?
I do have a new beau. It's new. He's not in the business.


What does he do?
I'd like to say as little about him as possible. That's the first no-no I learned about doing press. Don't talk about your relationships. But I will say I'm happy. He's great.

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