Democratic nominee. “When she took that stage, I got
incredibly emotional. As a woman, and as a working
mum trying to get things done, you find yourself meet-
ing adversity a lot, but you never talk about it because
you don’t want to bring attention to it.”
It’s hard to tell if she’s talking about Clinton, herself,
or working women in general. Much like a politician,
Hudson has mastered the art of not giving too much
away. But she is also innately reflective, particularly
when it comes to love, asking: “When it comes down to
it, it’s about who we allow to hold us, right?” She speaks
just as abstractly about the end of love: “I think that
forgiveness is the biggest part of it. Whether it be a
friendship that has gone wrong, or a relationship that
ends ... It’s very rare that two people look at each other
with all the same love in their eyes, saying, ‘We’re
unhappy ... But will you be my best friend still?’” she
says. “I don’t know one person who has had that experi-
ence, where it didn’t have some sort of ache or pain. And
then it’s how you deal with that pain and the fact that
you went into something in hopes of it being something,
and it ended up not being that way.”
Is she describing her own experience of heartbreak?
Unclear. About Bellamy, she says, simply, “We make it
work.” She embraces her modern family and happily
eschews the title of domestic goddess in favour of the one
Ryder once awarded her as a joke on Mother’s Day:
“World’s Okayest Mum”. And she speaks frankly about
the challenges of being a single, working mother. “I don’t
try to sugar-coat things. I’ll say, ‘I’m doing the best I
can,’” she admits. “I like cooking. I like presenting.
I like it to be an experience, and [my kids] help me with
it, but if they want something after that, I’ll be like,
‘Look, I’m placing a meal out for you like a king. I can’t
do everything. I’m going to have to be the OK mum.’”
She is also a protective mother, who draws a line
when it comes to discussing new relationships. (She hasbeen linked to Nick Jonas and DJ/producer Diplo.) “The
reason I don’t talk about anything like that is because
I have kids,” says Hudson. “People ask that question as if,
‘Oh, yeah, it’s really healthy to publicly talk about who
I am or am not dating when I’ve got a tween.’ [Ryder]
can read, and he can hear. I’m not going to indulge in
that kind of thing until there’s someone in my life who
I’m introducing to my kids.”
It’s notable that she titled her book with “pretty
happy”: happiness is a continuum. She doesn’t pretend
to know the secret to being the best mum or having a
perfect marriage or an ideal uncoupling, for that matter.
She just keeps moving. “I have a passion for wanting to
do things,” says Hudson, her eyes flashing like green
flares. “I want to be a part of things that are going on.
I want to get in there.”
Not long after our interview, Hudson shared a quote
on Instagram from Jack Kerouac’s On The Road that
seemed to capture her zest for life: “The only people for
me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad
to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the
same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common-
place thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow
roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
She captioned the quote with a praise-hands emoji and a
simple affirmation: “Oh but ... YES.”
Deepwater Horizon is in cinemas now.Clockwise from top left: a
throwback snap of Kate (far left)
with mum Goldie Hawn, “Pa” Kurt
Russell and siblings; with her sons
at a film premiere this year; in new
movie Deepwater Horizon; with
then-fiancé Matt Bellamy in 2014.Interview
86 marieclaire.com.auPHOTOGRAPHED BY TESH; GETTY IMAGES. STYLED BY ELIZABETH STEWART. HAIR BY CHRIS MCMILLAN FOR LIVING PROOF AT SOLO ARTISTS. MAKE-UP BY DEBRA FERULLO FOR ROUGE DIOR. MANICURE BY ASHLIE JOHNSON/THE WALL GROUP FOR CHANEL LE VERNIS. THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED INMARIE CLAIREUS