Meet Kate Hudson. Wait, she hardly needs an introduction. Hudson's luminous
breakthrough performance in Cameron Crowe's coming-of-age tale Almost Famous
garnered critical praise and an Oscar nomination. But before the movie's buzz
reached deafening levels and Hudson's face popped up in posters plastered all
over New York subways and LA billboards, she had already wrapped an Irish indie
called About Adam. The movie offered her an opportunity to flex her vocal
cords; her character Lucy is a waitress who breaks from schlepping food to take up
torch singing at a Dublin café.
"I come from an extremely musical family," says Hudson, who despite her lazy
smile and sleepy eyes surrounded by smudged black eyeliner is as radiant in
person as she is on screen. "My dad's a musician, my grandfather's a musician,
and my mother's an amazing singer. But I feel like a frustrated musician. I
wasn't singing what I wanted to be singing; when I was in the studio, I thought,
I should be singing my stuff," she says. "But it was still a blast."
If Hudson did cut an album, what would it sound like? "I enjoy country and
the blues," she states. "I'm a big fan of people like Neil Young and Bob Dylan.
But I would also say folk, like Joan Baez -- she's got an incredible voice."
Although Hudson can certainly hold her own on the mic, don't expect a
J-Lo-style career switch any time soon. The actress isn't a fan of modern music and
doesn't want to be a part of it. "I don't respond to it personally," she says.
"I don't want to do an album because it [music] doesn't mean anything right
now," she says. When asked what bands she likes, she indifferently shrugs her
shoulders. After a long pause, she comes up with "Coldplay, I'm really into
Coldplay." What's missing for Hudson in most of today's music is heart. "I just
think there's nothing really sincere about it, and sincerity is such a part of
anything artistic," says Hudson. "I watch Chris [Robinson] and his band [The
Black Crowes] and everything they do is sincere. That's all that matters and
that's admirable to me."
This sentiment definitely suits Penny Lane, her character in Almost Famous.
Hudson's delightful portrayal of a bubbly "Band-Aid" who devotes her life to
following her favorite rock band came from that place of having a pure passion
for music. She loves Grateful Dead ("American Beauty is one of my favorite
albums"). Also, a major fan of Led Zeppelin, Hudson lights up when talking about
how Jimmy Page helped inspire her role.
"I had [pictures of] Jimmy Page all over my trailer when I was filming Almost
Famous and I read everything about him and all the girls he was with. At one
point I flew into Chicago to meet him and I was really nervous," Husdon
recalls. "I got there and I was standing on the side of the stage going oh my God,
what's going on, that's Jimmy Page! This is the man that I was pretending to
look at for six months."
Once Almost Famous hit theaters, it became clear that the minor celebrity
status of the film's title no longer applied to Hudson. But just because she's
now a star whose picture sweeps the paparazzi pages of international magazines
doesn't mean she plans to bump smaller projects for big blockbusters.
"One thing I learned from my parents is that it's not the outcome -- the big
hooplah -- that matters; it's about the work," she says. "I learn from
everything that I'm doing. So every movie is a part of the whole experience." She
enjoyed shooting About Adam for the new opportunities it afforded her. "I'm part
of a great cast -- I mean, look at their careers," she says admirably.
"Hopefully Frances (O'Connor) will be nominated for an Oscar one day and I can say,
'I worked with her.'"
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