Kate Hudson Says Working with Kurt Russell Reminded Her Why She Fell in Love with Making Movies

Kate Hudson is starring alongside her stepdad Kurt Russell in Deepwater Horizon. And while the two have worked together before (she directed him in her 2007 short film Cutlass), Hudson said this experience reminded her of how she'd grown up visiting Russell and mom Goldie Hawn on set – and how that inspired her to make movies in the first place.

"That was cool," Hudson told Good Morning America on Wednesday, looking back on working with Russell. "What I really, really loved about being on set with him was it was a reminder of where I fell in love with making movies."

She explained: "It's a very different experience watching a movie and watching a movie being made because [being on set] is horribly boring. But for me as a kid, I loved every aspect of it."

The 37-year-old actress also loved watching Russell, 65, work on Deepwater Horizon.



"He's such a such a phenomenal actor," she gushed. "He would put so much care and effort into his roles in a way which is different with a lot of young people I've worked with. It's such a different mentality."

The film is based on the real-life Gulf Coast oil rig Deepwater Horizon, which burst into flames on April 20, 2010 – causing one of the worst environmental man-made disasters in history and killing 11 people. It also stars Mark Wahlberg, Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez and John Malkovich.

Hudson plays Felicia Williams, Deepwater Horizon oil rig engineer Mike Williams' (Wahlberg) wife in the inspired-by-true-events film. Russell, meanwhile, plays Jimmy "Mr. Jimmy" Harrell, the boss of the rig. The two have been making the rounds together doing press for the film – their first time both appearing on-screen together.

"I literally get the chills every time I talk about it," she said of the film. "[My] character represents all of the families on the Deepwater who were left in the dark for many hours – not knowing what was going on with their families, not having any idea if they were going to come home."

She added that she felt extra pressure playing the real-life wife of one of the rig's survivors.

"You have this sort of extra, added thing in the back of your head going, you know, the families are going to see this movie, so you really want to be careful," Hudson revealed. "There's no carelessness going into making a film like that when you know that the families are watching."

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And while working with Russell on set might have reignited something inside Hudson, her time with mom Hawn, 70, was always a little more playful – even if that embarrassed Hudson sometimes.

"I remember when my mom would do hot lunch at school, with the pizza and the singing," she recalled, blushing. "You know, she pirouettes everywhere. It's the best – she's still pirouetting everywhere. But when you're a kid and your parents are wild like that, you [cringe]."

"I think Ryder's like that with me, so I get it," she added, mentioning her 12-year-old son. "I get being scared."

Deepwater Horizon opens in theaters Sept. 30.