The daughter of Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson bears more than a passing resemblance to her famous mother in both looks and onscreen vivacity. Born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1979, Hudson made her screen debut in 1998. She first earned notice for her work in 200 Cigarettes (1999), an ensemble film that cast her as naive Cindy out on a date with caddish Jack (Jay Mohr). Although the film proved to be a substantial critical and commercial disappointment, Hudson's performance was singled out for some of the scant praise the film did receive. The following year, she could be seen starring opposite fellow up-and-comer Joshua Jackson in Gossip, a drama centered on the disastrous side effects of rumor-mongering on a college campus.
If critical recognition had eluded her in the past, it certainly caught-up with her at the 2000 Golden Globe Awards, where she took home the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Engulfed in the Hollywood hype machine following her winning role in Almost Famous, it seemed as if Hudson was set to follow her mother in taking the film industry by storm. After soaking in her nowfound fame in the early years of the new millennium, Hudson emerged from a whirlwind schedule of fashion shoots and awards shows to appear in the romantic war drama The Four Feathers in 2002. Though The Four Feathers was quickly and unceremoniously relegated to box-office obscurity, Hudson fired back with an almost surefire hit when she starred opposite quirky heartthrob Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003). While subsequent roles in Alex and Emma, Le Divorce, and Raising Helen did little to elevate Hudson's already-comfortable star status, a venture into the unknown in the curiously original but largely underseen Skeleton Key at least showed the actress' willingness to explore new territory onscreen.
Back in the realm of comedy, Hudson would do her best to tolerate onscreen husband Matt Dillon's eccentric best-friend when the down-on-his-luck Dupree (Owen Wilson) arrives on their doorstep looking for a place to stay in the farcical summer comedy You, Me and Dupree (2006).
Hudson joined with Mathew McConaughey for a second time for the romantic comedy Fool's Gold (2008), and starred in another rom-com, My Best Friend's Girl, the same year. Hudson gained recognition for her previously unknown dance skills thanks to her performance in filmmaker Rob Marshall's musical film Nine, which also featured Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, and Nicole Kidman. In 2010, the actress starred in the film adaptation of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me.
Hudson conitnued to rotate between lighter romantic comedies and heavier dramas, appearing in Something Borrowed in 2011, followed by political thriller The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Larry David's TV movie Clear History (2013) and the drama Good People (2014). She also took a recurring gig on Glee, playing a dance instructor, allowing Hudson to showcase her singing skills and dancing chops.
