“Oh I love Duprees. I’m not like Molly at all—I’m totally available for weird, interesting, bizarre characters. I love it.”
That’s Kate Hudson inviting sweet but oddball houseguests to bring the weird when they stay with her, a far cry from her character in her new comedy You, Me and Dupree, in which her character’s marriage threatens to unravel when her husband (Matt Dillon) allows his friend Dupree (Owen Wilson) to become the houseguest from Hell. But all was heavenly when Hollywood.com stopped by for a visit with Kate…in fact, maybe we weren’t weird enough.
Hollywood.com: The fantasy sequence in the movie where you’re wearing that bathing suit …
Kate Hudson: [Interrupting] That was so funny, by the way. Don’t even say it. Let me tell you. The guys had me try on like four different types of bathing suits. So the Russo brothers and Owen would come in and be like “Ummm, maybe you should put on the other one again. And turn around. That’s nice. What about the other one?” We were laughing so hard. Oh, wait! I have a great story I haven’t told this whole time! So we’re shooting in San Pedro by an Army Reserve Camp—or Marines, I don’t know which one. But all of a sudden this chopper comes. It’s like this crazy noise—we hear this, and I’m all…I’ve got like the diamond collar and everything, and the heels. My hair’s all [Teased out]. All of a sudden we hear this huge crash. We’re like, “Holy sh*t!” I walk out and I’m in the outfit and I’m like, “Oh my God!”. It turns out that my car—of all the cars and all the trailers that are there—this chopper came so low that a whole sort of big, huge, big plywood thing came falling onto my car from a rooftop. I’m walking out there, and the cops are there, the Marines are there, and I’m in my outfit. They’re like “Hi, Ms. Hudson, uhhh…” And I’m like, “What happened?” Then all of sudden I realize, and I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m sorry—Can somebody get me a robe?” It was really funny. I don’t know what they were doing, but whatever it was, it definitely caused an issue. And the government still hasn’t paid me back.
HW: Yet you were substantially clothed in the film, compared to Owen.
KH: That’s true. There’s a lot of, like, naked in this movie. I remember that when I read the script for the first time, I was like, “God, I’m kind of half-naked throughout the whole movie.” So I wasn’t too surprised. I didn’t come to set and Joe and Ant were like, “You’re going to be in your underwear for this scene.” It was actually written in the thing. But I think Owen probably had it worse than I did.
HW: What are some of the secrets you learned about your husband Chris Robinson when you first were married?
KH: I knew what I was getting into with Chris. I knew the first week. I remember one of the first things I said to him was, “Tell me everything that you think I’m not going to like about you.” And he went on for about an hour and a half. Then I still married him. So he was always really totally upfront with all that. There is one [issue] that he has with me that’s actually pretty funny: I can sip on a coffee all day long. Like, I can have a coffee that’s cold and I’ll still take a sip of it and it just drives him nuts. And same with my dad. It drives Kurt [Russell] nuts too, because my mom actually does the same thing. And they’re both like, “I don’t know how you guys can sip on cold coffee all day, the same coffee.” I don’t know. I like it.
HW: Did Kurt ever give Chris a hard time at first, like Michael Douglas does as your dad in this movie?
KH: No. Pa was actually pretty good. Someone asked me if people found him intimidating, and I’ve never thought about the fact that my dad is actually like, you know, Snake Plissken. Oh my God, that must have been really difficult for certain guys to come in and go, “Oh, that’s her dad. And he’s going to kick my ass.” I remember he was doing a press junket and he came back from the press junket right after I married Chris. He said that he got asked a lot about if he was nervous or worried that I got married too young. Pa said it was so funny, because I said, “I’m never worried about Kate. I’m worried about the guy who marries Kate.” Which I love, because that shows that he’s got confidence in his daughter. So he’s always been pretty good. My parents let us make our mistakes.
HW: Do you know a male or female Dupree in your life?
KH: I’ve got some female Duprees. Of my girlfriends, I would say I’ve got two Duprees. One of them just sort of squatted in my house for over a year. I liked it because I could go into the guest room and be like, “So anyway, and then she said, and then he said.” Chris was the one who was like, “When is she getting out of our house?” And then I have another one who was probably be the Dupree who would light the house on fire with a stick of butter. And if you’re out there baby, you know who you are. As far as [my husband’s] vagabond musician friends that wander in and out of our house all the time, there’s two in particular, they’re twins believe it or not, who I’ve seen their genitals one too many times. And it’s very harmless. It’s actually more just they’re comfortable with themselves. But you know, I’m okay with it. I can deal. It’s hysterical. That actually happened when these guys were living with us in Paris. I’d literally go to work every morning like at 5:30 in the morning and I’d be stepping over them—they were just passed out. I guess that’s part of what I enjoy about life, is that there are these people that you can just write stories about. And I must say—and this sounds crazy—but for what I do or actors or anybody who works in the movie industry, I always think that understanding human behavior, no matter what kind of human behavior, is the best lesson and the best acting class you could possibly have. So I’ve always been very open with people’s stuff.
HW: Compare and contrast working with the Wilson brothers.
KH: I’m a Wilson aficionado. I’ve gotten to know all of the brothers now, Andrew included. I would say that first of all, they’re all hilarious. And their humor—it’s not wacky as much as it is based in intelligence, referenced humor. Owen is a beautiful writer. He’s a great writer. He’s always thinking in terms of writing. Andrew and Luke write as well. I think their similarities are the core of them, obviously coming from the same parents, the core of them is very similar. Their senses of humor are similar, but to me they’re all different. I should ask Owen what he thinks, but to me, I would say that Owen’s the weirdest. I don’t know. I think that Luke is the baby, and he is definitely a sure baby. You can tell that he was the youngest brother. I think he’s sensitive. I think they’re all pretty sensitive. I don’t know about Andrew, but I think they’re all pretty sensitive. And then Owen—Owen’s more quiet. Owen’s definitely more quiet than Luke. Aww, they’re so cute.
HW: Michael Douglas has been a family friend for a long time. What was it like having him play your father on screen.
KH: Michael is the first person I’ve worked with that I’ve known since I was a baby. So it was the first time I had worked with a friend of my parents that I’ve known. I’m friends with Cameron, his son. So I think it was sort of one of those experiences, maybe for both of us, where it was kind of just one of those “Wow” things—“How great is this?” And just the fact that he was playing my dad—for us it just had a little bit more meaning and what would normally happen in that circumstance.
HW: How’s your son Ryder?
KH: He’s great. He’s two and a half. He’s talking up a storm. It’s amazing because at this age, it’s like he’s starting to create his own ideas and taking… Like he’s obsessed with Peter Pan right now. He watches Peter Pan and you watch him assimilate and use it. The other day my girlfriend and I were talking to each other, and he goes, “Girls talk too much.” And that’s what Peter Pan says to Wendy? I looked at him, and he picked up on it, and I was like, “You’re two and a half years old…” I mean, goddamn it, if this isn’t what life is about right there. Just watching him discover every part of himself, and especially his mind, is just fantastic.
