58 MAY 2017
“It wasn’t
lust at first
sight with
Kurt.”
Goldie has said that if she and Kurt Russell had married, they would be divorced by now. RIGHT: Kurt and Goldie with (from left) her
son Oliver Hudson, their son Wyatt Russell, her daughter Kate Hudson and grandchildren Ryder, Rio, Bingham, Wilder and Bodhi.
1998 2017children.Frankly, that was it. That’s
what made me fall in love with him. It
wasn’t one of those... ” she’s searching
for the word... “lust at first sight
things. No, not that at all. I mean, we
were very sexually attracted to each
other, but I was at a stage of my life
where I had finally accepted my little
white picket fence dream did not work
out. I’d had two divorces and I wanted
something that was going to be good
for my life and my children.”
Her son, Oliver, has three children,
Wilder, Bodhi and Rio, and actress
daughter Kate has sons Ryder and
Bingham, and it’s always special for
Goldie to spend time with them. “My
grandchildren call me Go-Go. It was
my nickname when I was little,” she
says. “Being a grandmother is amazing.
I love it. It brings unbelievable joy.”
She loves all children, not just those
who are related to her – hence her
foundation. And there’s also something
about Goldie that is celebratory of her
own inner child, a playfulness and
innocence that’s with her still.
Ahead of the times
Goldie’s phone rings with an Indian
gong ringtone. She laughs at herself.
She’s drinking green juice, but swears
she was drinking it for 20 years before
the rest ofHollywood, then the world,
embraced it as the healthy must-have.
Looking back at her life, she was the
first of so many more things, not just
green juice. When she produced and
starred inPrivate Benjaminin 1980,
it was a ground-breaking moment for
her and for women in general. She was
allowed to be a femalelead – that was
still a rarity – hilarious and still the
exquisitely pretty, blondeGoldie.
Yet what we didn’t know is that she
was studying neuroscience, how the
brain works, and she still does. “I don’t
look at myself as someone who has to
be funny, who has to entertain people,”
she says. “I’m an actress who can be
comedic and I started off as a dancer.”
Her legs are still long, slim, shapely
and toned, andSnatcheddirector
Jonathan Levineadmits she was the
fittest person on the set. There was
lots of running, lots of
action and Goldie’s never
minded that.
In 1996, she, Bette
Midler and Diane
Keaton starred in what
became a massive hit
movie,The First Wives
Club. “It was a time
when movies were being
tailored to the adolescent male,”
Goldie says. “No one wanted to make
movies with women of a certain age,
actually in their 50s. We all did it for
minimal money just to get it made.”
When the studio wanted a sequel,
they were expected to do it for the
same low fees. “I couldn’t believe it,” she
says. “I thought to myself, no. Everyone
negotiates for a sequel because people
love your characters. You can’t put
anyone else in that movie.”
Does she think they would have
treated men like that? “No, not at all,”
she says, with absolutely certainty.
Havethings changed now? She pauses,
smiles as if she wants to be the optimistand chooses her words carefully. “We
keep inching along, two steps forward
and one step back,” she says. “I feel
that young men today are different to
some of those old dogs who have a lack
of regard for a womanwho’s – how
can I put it – got some power.”
Goldie has never been the type of
woman who stamped her stilettoed
feet and made diva-ish demands, but
she always spoke her mind carefully.
“I can tell you I did frustrate a lot of
people,” she says. “I wasnot happy
about the wayFirst Wives Club
was handled.”
While BetteMidler
and Diane Keaton held
back, “I was more
confronting.When I
look back, I feel
extremely proudthat
I used my voice.”
Does she think that
now it’s possible for a
woman to be blonde, pretty, funny and
call the shots? In my head, I’m
thinking Amy Schumer. “Perhaps, but
I never felt pretty and neither did Amy.
We both grew up doubting ourselves.”
Goldie Hawn in herPrivate Benjamin
andShampooperiod was undoubtedly
gorgeous, but perhaps part of the
reason she connects so well with other
women is that she never believed that
herself.“I still think there’s no such
thing as a sexy clown,” she says, “but I
like the idea that there’s been a paving
of the way for more women to get out
there and produce movies.”AWWSnatched opens in cinemas on May 18. PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRUNKARCHIVE.COM/SNAPPER MEDIA GETTY IMAGES AND ©2016 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.