Kate Hudson Embraces Her Rom-Com Legacy — But Wants More
Kate Hudson has spent years being called the “rom-com queen,” and while she appreciates the title, she wants people to know she has more to offer.
The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star, 45, appeared on the Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce podcast on March 6, where Kylie, 32, asked if she likes being recognized for her romantic comedies. Kate’s response? It’s complicated.
“It’s a mixed feeling because — now that I’m older, I love it,” she said, adding, “I think what happens when you have a very successful rom-com, it sort of becomes what people expect from you and want from you, and as an actor you’re sort of like, ‘Yeah, but I want to do a million different things.’”
Kate Hudson became a household name with her Oscar-nominated role in 2000’s Almost Famous, but it was the rom-coms of the 2000s — You, Me and Dupree, Fool’s Gold, and Bride Wars, to name a few — that cemented her as the go-to leading lady for love stories.
That kind of success, however, came with limitations. “As Hollywood goes, they love to put you in a box,” Kate explained. “They love it. And so I think when you’re younger, you don’t want to be pigeonholed into an idea that that’s what you do. And the second you have success in a rom-com as a woman, it’s like they just want you in that,” Hudson added. “So it’s like you love it, and then at the same time you’re like, ‘Yeah, but I want to do other things. I don’t want to just do this all the time.’”
Despite her dominance in the genre, Kate has been determined to break free from that box. In 2024, she fulfilled a longtime dream by releasing her debut album, Glorious, telling PEOPLE that music had always been her passion but took a back seat to her acting career. She’s also taking on different types of roles, including her latest project, Running Point, a Netflix sports comedy that, to her relief, isn’t focused on romance.
“Look, don’t get me wrong, I love a rom-com,” she told PEOPLE in February. “But to do a comedy set in such a high-stakes environment that’s about family dynamics — to me, [that] is just so much fun.”
She added that one of the reasons she was excited to play Isla Gordon in Running Point was that the show wasn’t centered on her character’s love life.
