Kate Hudson rejected stepdad Kurt Russell’s movie Escape from LA to avoid nepotism accusations

6 June 2025

Kate Hudson turned down a role in her stepdad Kurt Russell’s movie Escape from LA as she didn’t want to be “defined” by nepotism.

Kate Hudson turned down a part in her stepdad Kurt Russell’s movie Escape from LA

The 46-year-old star has recalled how she declined the opportunity to star with Kurt in the 1996 film because she didn’t want outsiders to think that she only got the part due to her family connections.

Speaking at the Newport Beach TV Fest, Kate – whose mother is actress Goldie Hawn – said: “I went in and auditioned and got that part, and I sort of realised, ‘Oh, this is when you start to make choices that will define your career.’ And, ‘Do I want to be defined by being Kurt’s daughter who got this part? No.’

“(It doesn’t) matter if I got it because I was good enough – it would never be what people would ever think. And I knew that and was like, ‘No, I can’t.’ So I ended up saying no to that, too.”

Kate revealed that she wanted to be an actress from a young age and detailed how her passion stemmed from being on her stepfather’s movie sets as a child.

The Running Point star said: “My dad’s sets were the fun sets. It was like Big Trouble in Little China and we had slides that would go down into rubber fish, and these amazing costumes.

“And the thing is, when you grow up on a movie set, it’s not that fun. (There) is a lot of waiting around, so you realise you really love it when you don’t want to get off the movie set.”

Hudson added: “Performing was always something I knew I was going to do.

“There was never a question, but really falling in love with the circus was something that I don’t think all kids actually have when they’re on a set.”

While Kate got the acting bug at an early age, she is unsure whether her sons – Ryder, 21, and Bingham, 13, whom she has with former partners Chris Robinson and Matt Bellamy respectively – feel the same way, although matters are different for her daughter Rani, six, who she has with her fiance Danny Fujikawa.

She explained: “I see my kids and they’re kind of bored when they go on movie sets; they don’t really want to be there. But then I see Rani and she’s like (excited whisper) ‘What is this place?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, she’s going to get the bug.'”

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