THERE was none of the usual star-on-set extravagance for Kate Hudson on her latest film.


When she wasn't shooting on the Queensland-filmed adventure flick Fool's Gold, the no-nonsense actor spent much of her time assisting the crew in the very unglamorous role of reflector holder. "On this movie they said I should get a grip credit because I did off-camera (work) on the boats," she says, smiling widely. "The boats would be so difficult to light and I'd be there holding a reflector underneath something."


That's not very Hollywood A-list of you.


"I guess not," she says, with a throaty chuckle. "They said that, too, but I don't even know how to do it any other way, except being a part of it. I feel like a crew girl."


Hudson's heritage as part of a hard-working Hollywood clan has seen to that.


The willowy 28-year-old grew up on film sets – regularly accompanying her mother Goldie Hawn and stepfather Kurt Russell, who she refers to as Dad, on location. But there was a catch.


"My parents would not let us come on set unless we had a job so we'd either work in wardrobe or the camera department, or as a gopher or a PA (personal assistant)," she says in a languid Californian drawl.


"Everybody thinks a film set is all fun and games but objectively everybody's working really hard, really long hours and when kids come on set it can be sometimes difficult for people to work so, with my parents, if we were there, we went to work.


"And for me, that's what made me fall in love with making movies – I enjoy being on a movie set and that's because I enjoy all aspects of it."


It's a tradition Hudson – who, in her trademark casual-luxe style, has mixed a relaxed ensemble of blue jeans, camel coloured ugg boots, loose black singlet and ecru cardigan with diamond-encrusted jewellery from Van Cleef – plans to continue with her four-year-old son Ryder, from her marriage to Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson.


The couple split in July 2006 after six years of marriage but Hudson says they have maintained a friendship for the sake of their son.


"You've got to – I feel like if you don't it's (due to) your ego and that's just a shame for your children," she says.


"Chris and I really try to work our schedules out – we make it work. For instance, I'm going to do press for the movie and it's really hard to be present and Chris isn't on tour so it's a real great opportunity for Chris to be dad.


"And then he goes on tour and I've got to figure out my deal – I gotta not work."


Hudson beams whenever she talks about her son, who is pictured on her mobile phone, but then talk turns to how she manages to combine being a single mum with fame and the challenge of finding love.


"It's really hard," she says. "Dating is difficult being a single mum – you've really got to like somebody. I'm not even interested in dating right now – I'm busy and I'm so happy being a mum. I've got a lot on my plate.


"Now I've got this thing where every time I go out I end up in a tabloid making out with somebody – which is a lie – so it kind of ruins the fun of going out with my friends."


Hudson's love life has been tabloid fodder since her split with Robinson. She was quickly linked to her You, Me & Dupree co-star Owen Wilson, with the pair's romance kicking off in Australia in mid-2006 while they were on the press tour for the comedy.


"It was great – we went to some great restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne," is all she will say of the period.


Wilson, who was hospitalised in August after a reported suicide attempt, was a regular on the Queensland set of Fool's Gold, but the on-off couple split last May.


For now, the man who has been taking up much of her time – on the promotional trail – is her Fool's Gold co-star and longtime friend Matthew McConaughey.


The pair, who first starred together in romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in 2003, play an estranged married couple thrown back together to hunt for Spanish treasure in the action comedy.


Hudson, who describes herself as a hippie chick, says McConaughey, 38, is a kindred spirit.


"We must have had some kind of experience together in another life because we seem to be connected in this one," she says. "Everybody thinks co-stars hook up and everybody asks 'why haven't you two been together?' – well, one, I was married when we met and now he's having a baby.


"But even more than that, we're not compatible as romantic figures, even though we have that sort of sexual energy with each other – we just kind of enjoy each other.


"He's fun and he's crazy and I appreciate his eccentricities."


Hudson says she revelled in spending her downtime with crew members during the six-month shoot, regularly visiting bars in the film's locations of Port Douglas, Lizard Island, the Whitsundays and the Gold Coast.


"The Australian crew are work hard, play hard," she says with a smile.


"I'd hang out with all those guys once every two weeks – I'd hit a bar with the crew and it was fun. At the end of my trip to Australia I felt like a real Aussie."


Hudson is a picture of good health, with her glowing golden skin and straw-coloured shoulder-length hair. She is slim but not in the traditional Hollywood sense where the stick-thin status of starlets can often prove jaw-droppingly shocking upon a first meeting.


As expected, the similarities between Hudson and her famous mother are remarkable. Hudson, who earned a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination in 2001 for her breakout role as rock groupie Penny Lane in Almost Famous, says she can sometimes get sick of constant comparisons with her mother.


"We (Hawn and Hudson) were talking about it this morning and were like 'there's just some mother-daughters where it just happens' in terms of the way people think I look and my mannerisms and stuff," she says resignedly.


"I'm not going to deny it and pretend it's not there. I get it – I get people's comparisons. I guess there are certain times when people step over the line."


Hudson says she feels she has finally reached a place where she can be recognised for her own work, rather than her Hollywood lineage.


"When you come from an acting family, it can sometimes become very difficult (to work) – we've seen it with other people.


"My mum's an icon and I have been working a lot in this past decade and I've reached an amount of success that has made me feel very blessed to actually get to where I've gotten to.


"It's one of those things that doesn't happen very often – so to be able to make a living off acting is just awesome."


Fool's Gold opens in cinemas on Thursday.