In How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Kate Hudson is a magazine columnist who tries to do just that with Matthew McConaughey--and then can't understand why he won't get the hint no matter how clingy, demanding or intolerable she acts.


It's easy to see why he'd be hard to shake. The 23-year-old Hudson is just someone you want to be around. Maybe it's genetic--her mom is Goldie Hawn, after all. Maybe it's her upbringing--Hawn's longtime partner, Kurt Russell, is her virtual stepdad. Or maybe being married to a rock star (the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson) is good for the soul.


Whatever. The charm that radiated from Hudson's breakout performance in Almost Famous was no fluke. Find out what the young actress has to say about her celebrity status, being married and how she's spending Valentine's Day.


Your role in this movie is almost schizophrenic: sensible reporter pretending to be the girlfriend from hell. What was that like?
I was attracted to the project in the first place because it was almost like playing two different characters, y'know--Andie the working girl and then crazy Andie. I liked the idea of the lengths you go to be good at your job. Any character with so many things to do is always challenging and fun.


Have you ever done something that drove away a guy you liked?
I've definitely done things, though not that crazy. I'm not that insane. But I did things, as I'm sure we all have, like calling somebody too much or writing a letter telling them how you feel. All those things that just make guys go, ugh.


One thing guys would like is that "helicopter" sex move that's illustrated in the book (by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long) that inspired the film. Why didn't it make it into the movie?
Do a spinner? [Laughs.] I fought for it, but they didn't think it was such a good idea. Sorry to disappoint you.


They hired you for this role because you're so sweet and adorable audiences will stick with you no matter what. Are you worried, though, that producers may not want you for darker parts because you're just too sunny to be a mass murderer?
Then I will play a mass murderer that you root for!


You have so much self-confidence. Did that extend to your dating life before you met Chris?
No, it was all down the drain. I was not a confident dater. But I was okay being alone--I wasn't somebody who always needed to be in a relationship. As a matter of fact, I was somebody who actually liked not being in relationships. Then I met Chris, and everything changed.


Then you proceeded to do everything this movie warns girls not to do, right?
I think it was just a real abnormal meeting. We kind of met, and that was it. Every rule just went out the window. We were telling each other we loved each other by the fourth day. I moved in in a week. Y'know, everything was so different. I think no matter what, when you and the person you're supposed to be with find each other, you can't do anything wrong.


So, it was love at first sight?
We had met two years before...we were full of ourselves. Friends had introduced us, it was Halloween, and he had wanted me to take off my wig. Underneath, I had one of those nylon stockings over my head, so there was no way I was taking it off. Afterward, our friend asked him what he thought, and he said, "I think she's kind of an ass." Then she came over to me, and I said, "I think he's kind of an ass." That was our first meeting. Little did we know we'd be staring into each other's eyes and in love two years later. So, love them asses!


Most people would say that you married awfully young. What do you say to them?
I think it's harder to understand when you don't know somebody why somebody would get married so young. But if you knew me--which you don't--and you knew Chris, and you saw us together, there's not one person I know who doesn't get it. Sometimes we say, "Well, honey, the honeymoon's over." But it's still pretty amazing. I would wish that kind of relationship on my worst enemy because it really changes a lot of things about yourself and your priorities. Everything just makes sense, and if you realize that life's so short, what a great thing to really be in love and to really honor somebody.


Didn't your parents have any objections, especially when things were moving so fast at the beginning?
No. My mom...both of my parents were just like, "Oh Katie, go do what ya gotta do." That's just always how they've been.


Do you ever ask them for career guidance, anything like that?
It's kind of more about life than about anything else. If I want to go to my parents for advice, it's usually, y'know, "Mom, do you remember Grandma's recipe for brisket?" My parents are still parents. They parent me, because that's what we do when we have kids--forever. So, they're always giving me advice but not really about career. We don't talk about that stuff. It's funny, a lot of families probably do sit around and talk about what's going on in everybody's career. But because we all do the same thing, we don't really talk about it much. Because we know, y'know?


Were you destined to follow two actor parents into the business?
It's hard to say if it was inevitable. My brother Oliver is an actor, but my other two brothers have no desire to act. It's just what you want to do. I definitely watched my parents and enjoyed watching what they did, being on sets. They always say they knew I'd want to do this before I did. Ever since I was little, before I knew what they did, I just came out as that kind of baby. I was always performing or singing or talking to people all of the time, talking, talking.


You've been successful at it, too, from a very early age. But even the luckiest actors get their share of rejection. Was there ever a point when you felt frustrated enough to consider giving it up?
Ummm...I just loved it too much. I really didn't care if it didn't work out. I mean, a lot of people get into this industry for all the wrong reasons. They want to be on television or they want to be famous. I never had those desires. I saw that firsthand, and it wasn't something I was attracted to. It was actually something that affected us negatively, because a lot of times fame got in the way of time with our parents...For me, I just wanted to play different characters. So, I was always doing it, whether in a movie, on a television show or in a play at my high school or at Williamstown Theater Festival. I was always doing it. I never really questioned whether it would work or not.


You've already gone through some very public ups and downs, like the Oscar nomination for Almost Famous followed by the box-office disaster of The Four Feathers. Neither throws you, huh?
I just don't focus on it. What made it easy to deal with is that I'm happy. I'm happy at home, I'm happy with my family, I'm happy with my relationship. That is just a plus. I can take all the criticism in the world, and it really won't affect me. I'm just having a great time being alive. How lucky are we just to be here and healthy? What a fun thing.


Must be nice to have a life that can't get any better. Oh, wait, didn't you make your next movie, Le Divorce, in France last year?
I felt so alive in Paris. I was so happy there--so much so that when we came back to America we were a little depressed. We wanted to be back there where you eat till all hours and enjoy humanity and take your time. It was so amazing. And the great thing is, that's what the character I was playing found in Paris. And if I could've been her, I would've stayed like she did. But my home and my family and my heart are in America, so to pick up and be an expatriate would be something very difficult for me to do.


You and Chris are probably going to have the greatest Valentine's Day ever. Or are you?
He's gonna be on the road, and I'm gonna be working. He has a day off for Valentine's Day, so I think he better get on a plane home, or I'm gonna be upset.

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