Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Oscar.
“Katie’s been very successful in a number of different
roles, but the ones that seem to have gotten the most
emphasis from the system have not been at the level
that I think an actress with Kate’s ability
dramatically can benefit from as much
as she deserves. She’s multifaceted.”
For one, the woman can sing. (Google
her and “Nothing Compares 2 U”, not to
mention her guest appearances on Glee as a
bitchy dance instructor.) She co-founded
the activewear company Fabletics in 2013,
and in February, she published Pretty
Happy: Healthy Ways To Love Your Body, a
bestselling self-help guide sprinkled with
inspirational quotes, menus, cleanses, and
ideas for “rediscovering pleasure”, includ-
ing visiting a butterfly garden and learning to pole dance.
She hints at what’s in the pipeline: “Everything has been
fitness, and I’m now starting to get into things about
other aspects of my life – fashion and beauty and skin-
care. And home, because that’s where energy starts.”H
ealth was a natural area to
start for the outdoorsy girl
who studied dance while
growing up in LA and
Colorado. In between spoonfuls of miso
soup, she whips out her phone to show
me the diet-and-exercise-tracking app
MyFitnessPal. “This was my day yester-
day – my goal was to eat 1200 calories
[5000kJ],” she says. “I didn’t work out
much, just 20 minutes on the Spin bike,
so that’s how much I burned. This morn-
ing I had strip steak, about 100g. Now
I’ll add miso soup: 84 calories [350kJ].”
As willing as she is to reveal her food
diary, Hudson is hardly confessional.
The publisher approached her about
Pretty Happy and persuaded her to do
it. “It’s not my kind of writing,” says
Hudson, who composes short stories
and poems in her spare time. “I was like,
‘Why would I write a book? Does any-
body really want to know what I think?’”
She’s aware of the backlash against
actresses-slash-lifestyle entrepreneurs,
but she doesn’t worry about it. “People
criticise everything you do,” she says. “If
you don’t want to get criticised, do noth-
ing. I would love to be able to pass on to
the next generation the need to stop
judging everybody so much. You don’t
have to like it. You don’t have to buy it.”
Hudson’s interest in wellness isn’t
new. Hawn made annual trips to India
and, back home, invited over spiritual
teachers, gurus, and neuroscientists to
learn more about mindfulness long before it was trendy.
“It was always part of our life,” says Hudson. “My mum’s
passion is about finding joy. Even in difficult moments,
she has this joy of life. And I feel the same way.”
Hudson (family nickname: Birdie) befriended kids
with similarly starry backgrounds at her artsy LA high
school (the same alma mater of Gwyneth Paltrow and
Zooey Deschanel). “She’s the girl who got sent home in
high school for wearing her dress too short – her tush
was actually hanging out,” recalls Meyer. Hudson was
also the girl who valued her sanity over the spotlight.
“I remember opportunities she had to star in certain
movies and her sitting with her mum and dad and being
like, ‘I’m in high school. It’s just not the time,’” continues
Meyer. “She was in no rush to go beyond her years.
She was always ready for a good time. She was always
the girl everybody wanted to hang out with.”
None of those things has changed, but she also
knows that being “likeable” has its limits. Just look at
Hillary Clinton: “There’s so much focus on her likeabil-
ity. I want to elect a president to get the job done,” says
Hudson, who was thrilled when Clinton became the“I’m doing
the best I can
... I can’t do
everything.
I’m going to
have to be an
OK mum”Interview
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