With her wide smile, sparkling eyes and bubbly personality, Kate Hudson is as effervescent off screen as she is on. Yes, she has been exposed to the celebrity way of life since birth – raised by mother Goldie Hawn and her long-time partner Kurt Russell, whom Hudson views as her dad. However, she still remains grounded and down-to-earth. Ask any journalist who has interviewed her, and they will probably say the experience was one of their best. After all, how many celebrities of her calibre personally phone to confirm an interview, or will welcome a journalist into their home? Hudson, now 35, earned accolades for her role in Almost Famous, aged just 20. Encouraged by her celebrity parents, she had turned down a placement at New York University to pursue her acting career. Her role in Almost Famous garnered her Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. Since then she has graced our screens, big and small, in numerous roles, from a slew of romantic comedies to thrillers such as A Killer Inside Me and, more recently, Good People. And who can forget her role as the bitchy dance teacher Cassandra on Glee, where she once again revealed her singing and dancing talent. Acting aside, Hudson is an astute businesswoman (she recently cofounded an online active wear company, Fabletics.com) and mother of two children, 10-year-old Ryder (with ex-husband Chris Robinson of American band Black Crowes) and three-year-old Bingham with partner Matt Bellamy (frontman of British band Muse). She recently starred in Wish I Was Here, a comedy starring, directed and co-written by Zach Braff and his brother Adam. The movie was “crowd-funded” by more than 46 000 individual investors worldwide.
Here are a few lessons she has learnt along the way:
THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF GUILT TO PARENTING
When asked recently what kind of a mother she is, by Susanna Reid on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Hudson responded: “A guilty one.” She elaborated: “I think you always have a little bit of guilt that you could be doing more. It doesn’t matter if you are a stay-at-home mum or a working mum. I think in the daily process of raising your children, you always feel like, ‘Could I have done that differently? Could I have made a different choice? Was that the right time to discipline?”’
BLENDED IS THE NEW NORMAL
In an interview with Shane Watson of the Daily Mail, Hudson expressed that just because she and her ex are divorced, it doesn’t mean they stop having a relationship. “Divorce is always hard, and a lot of people find it difficult to overcome a hurtful and bitter break-up. Chris and I are lucky because we have managed to maintain a relationship.” She adds that her ex has a great wife and beautiful daughter, and they all spend time together. “We hang out as an extended family because we have managed to maintain a relationship.” She says that with careful handling and support, a child can understand the necessity of a divorce. She says: “Ryder is always saying, ‘I have such a cool, big family,’ and in the healthiest divorce scenario, in a happy, blended family, it can be wonderful.
IT’S NOT THE MARRIAGE – IT’S THE COMMITMENT
“Relationships are the most challenging things,” she told Self Magazine in May. “It’s where you do most of the work in your life. You come face-to-face with yourself, and if you can deal with realising we’re all flawed, accept it and work with it, you might have a really amazing, lasting relationship.” Her relationship role-models are her parents, Goldie Hawn and her long-term partner Kurt Russell, who have been together for over 30 years (a lifetime in Hollywood terms) and have never married. “My parents aren’t married, and one of the reasons why they never got married is because they had been married before and they liked it the way it was. They didn’t feel like they needed a piece of paper to be committed. So, for me, I know that marriage is not a golden ticket.” She adds: “If I look at my parents, who’ve been together thirtysomething years, I’d say no matter what they’ve been through, they share similar values and really like each other. It sounds simple, but it’s not.”
BUILD HEALTH AND WELLNESS INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE; THEN IT’S NOT HARD WORK
“My workout mantra is break a sweat every day. Even if it is just for 20 minutes, I’m very disciplined about that,” she told Self Magazine’s Erin Bried. “That said, sweating every day doesn’t mean you have to go crazy. Even if I’m running with the kids, I feel I’ve done something. One day, you might have so much energy that you skip around the block. But if I have the time, I try to do Pilates at least twice a week. I’ve been doing it for 15 years and I think it strengthens from the inside. When your core is strong, everything else starts to lift up.” She also shared with the Daily Mail that she is a “DVD girl”. “I always go back to the Brazil Butt Lift DVD, which is really fun and a good workout for when you are travelling.” Fitness DVDs, she says, are a great way for you to get fit, especially when you are trying to fit exercise into your busy schedule. “Even if you are a mom, and you have a million things to do and the kids are at school, I love the DVDs. They make it hard to say you didn’t have the time.” She adds that music is her source of inspiration. “Music, for me, is one of the most motivating factors, maybe because I danced for a long time as a hobby. Sometimes a really earnest, sad, depressing song will actually be what motivates me. I’ll just start doing really bad contemporary dance to some really emotional song.” When she wants a good workout, she goes old-school hiphop, saying that Can I Kick It always gets her going. Aerosmith’s Big Ones is also a great album for working out. “It’s nostalgic and hard-hitting. And then, of course, anything girlie. Beyoncé is great. Any of the beautifully empowered females.” When it comes to nutrition, she eats well without depriving herself of the things she loves. “A cheeseburger and fries, creamy white-truffle pasta, bowls of ice cream. Everything in moderation, but I indulge at least three times a week. Usually I aim for 1 800 calories a day. My friend Ginnifer Goodwin told me about this app MyFitnessPal, and then I got obsessed with it, because knowledge is power. I memorised everything, so if anything gets on the table, I literally know how many calories it is,” she was quoted as saying.
YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY
“I think happiness is a practice, but not the sort you find in self-help books, where you smile and have a vision board. You’re fooling yourself to think that’s how you’re going to find it,” Hudson said in her interview with Self. She added that there are times when she finds venting her anger a necessity for a calm mind. “I love the idea of a gratitude journal. But there are times when mine turns into a venting journal. Not so grateful, just a big ol’ vent.”
KEEPING THAT YOUTHFUL GLOW
Hudson’s secret to staying youthful is simple: listen to your mom. She was quoted as saying: “I think it’s more the stuff we eat. Like green juice – mom’s been drinking green juice forever. And taking teaspoons of olive oil. We love products and we have fun with products, but in terms of the real stuff that I’ve learnt from mom, it’s her lifestyle. She was always healthy and active and drinking something green.” Oh, and don’t forget it is vital to get a good night’s sleep. Your body repairs and regenerates at night – and getting a decent amount of sleep is the best way to look rested and refreshed. Her best kept secret to beautiful skin? “A makeup artist who has worked with dozens of people said that, ‘I used to work with this actor and everyday he would stick his face in an ice bath. A little water and a lot of ice. And he would just stick his face in and try to be in there as long as he could, sort of dab off, and go back in.’ I started doing it.” Why, you may ask? Simple: Bathing your face in ice water reduces puffiness and swelling, tightens your pores, promotes blood circulation and boosts brightness, giving you a healhty glow – it’s nature’s version of Botox.
IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE ME-TIME
In the interview with Reid on Good Morning Britain, she commented: “It’s so easy that your kids become your whole life that sometimes you have to remember what you were individually and what drives you with happiness.” Hudson added: “Sometimes I realise I haven’t been dancing much and I don’t understand what’s wrong with me or I don’t understand why I’m feeling one way, and then it will just hit me, ‘oh, I need to dance’.”
FIND YOUR INSPIRATION
For Hudson, her mom provides that muse, that inspiration. As she told Watson: “My mother is the most inspirational person in my life. She motivates me as an actress and as a businesswoman, but mostly I am guided by who she is as a person. It’s very fortunate to be able to look up to your mother.”
BEING A ROLE MODEL TO OTHER WOMEN AND GIRLS MATTERS
Gossip magazines, she tells Watson, paint a very negative image of women. “If there is one thing I will never have, it is an eating disorder. I won’t have girls – even if it is just one or two who care – thinking that. Because it’s a serious sickness, not something to plaster on the cover of a magazine. And I am the opposite.” Hudson was heavily criticised for putting on a lot of weight with her first child. “I want to be giving girls the message that sometimes you do gain 70 pounds having a baby, and you can lose it if you want. The whole point is I want girls to feel good about who they are.”
LASTLY, VALUE YOUR FRIENDSHIPS
“My mom once said something so poignant to me: ‘Honour your female friendships, because men can come and go, but if we nurture our relationships with women, they can be forever.’ I really believe that. My girlfriends are so important to me,” Hudson mentioned in her interview with Self. “They’ve been my rock-solid foundation. You have a choice: support the woman standing next to you or compete with her. But if you compete, you’re going to be miserable. Stick with what motivates you and makes you happy.”
Hudson recently launched Fabletics (www.fabletics.com), high-spec fitness gear inspired by her own wardrobe with JustFab, a worldwide fashion subscription house. Once you enter details about your favourite workouts and body type (there is even an “I’m one of a kind” choice), you are given personalised outfit recommendations. “The most exciting part about cofounding this line is creating looks and pieces for everyday women at body type, things women can feel good in all day.”