Kate Hudson is to wedding dresses what Meryl Streep is to accents. Of the 20 films in which she's appeared, Hudson estimates she's walked down the aisle in nearly half of them.
"I think I've worn a wedding dress in seven movies," she says cheerfully. "Let's do this. There was "About Adam,' "Dr. T and the Women,' "Bride Wars.' I wore a bridesmaid dress in "My Best Friend's Girl.' I'm missing a bunch of them, though. Did I wear a wedding dress in "Four Feathers'? No. "Fool's Gold'? Maybe."
It's no wonder that when Hudson received a proposal to star in "Something Borrowed," she was reluctant to say, "I do." Adding to her hesitation was the fact that she had just finished shooting back-to-back movies: the 2010 musical "Nine" and the dramedy "A Little Bit of Heaven," which is due later this year.
"I'd just come home to New York and I was ready to be home," says Hudson. "But then ("Something Borrowed' producers) Hilary (Swank) and Molly (Smith) came over and said, "You should read this book by Emily Giffin.' I started reading and I couldn't stop."
Based on Giffin's best-seller, "Something Borrowed" pivots on the character of Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin), a hardworking attorney who is single at 29, a fact that her about-to-be-married best friend Darcy (Hudson) never lets her forget.
After celebrating her 30th birthday, Rachel winds up in the arms of the guy she's had a crush on since law school, Dex (Colin Egglesfield), who just happens to be Darcy's fiance. Suddenly, Rachel is thrust into a very tricky situation, caught between Darcy and the guy who could be the love of her life.
"Something Borrowed," which is now playing in theaters, might be one of a handful of wedding-themed romantic comedies on Hudson's resume but Darcy is unlike the sweet-natured women the actress usually portrays.
"Darcy was just so hilarious to me," Hudson explains. "She's so deeply self-centered. I'd never really played a part like that before. I kind of thought, "Well, this is going to be fun.' "And it was fun, says Hudson. But the movie was not without its challenges. "Darcy gets to say all the things that nobody else wants to say and that's what I liked about her. But it was (tough) to take a character who's written as very unlikable and make her likable.
"It would have been too easy to make Darcy the villain and then that would have made it easier for Dex and Rachel (to get together). The movie is more real and interesting if you make all the characters somewhat likable. It makes you question the whole dilemma more, I think, if you care about everyone."
Director Luke Greenfield ("The Girl Next Door") believes Hudson was an ideal choice to play the movie's most potentially polarizing character.
"It's hard to pull off an alpha female like Darcy, the girl who gets everything she wants and is relentlessly self-absorbed, yet never fails to light up a room," he says. "Kate plays her in a way that makes you love to watch her, and lets you in on Darcy's genuine warmth."
While Hudson is best known for her romantic comedies, she admits she has little in common with many of the characters she's played. She insists she's not a girly-girl and neither is her mother, Goldie Hawn. "My mom and I don't talk about [beauty tips] or stuff like that," says Hudson. "She's not the kind of mother who's like, "Put your face on before you go out.' We've got all boys in our family."
Hudson's dad is musician Bill Hudson but she and brother Oliver were raised by Hawn and companion Kurt Russell. (Hawn and Russell also have a son named Wyatt.)
Going into the family business was a natural choice for Hudson, who found success almost immediately thanks to the career-making role of groupie Penny Lane in "Almost Famous." Only 21 at the time, Hudson won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for her performance.
Asked if she watched the film again when it arrived recently on Blu-Ray, Hudson says she rarely revisits previous triumphs. "My mom is a Buddhist and she's taught me not to live in the past. But that movie was an experience that I will take with me forever. The actors that I worked with are still my friends.
"And then the critical attention that "Almost Famous' received was sort of mind-blowing for me because I was young and falling in love (with first husband Chris Robinson) and getting married and doing the whole awards circuit. It was all new. And it was great."
Three years after "Almost Famous" was released, Hudson gave birth to her first child, Ryder Robinson, now 7. In June, she's due to become a mother again. This time, the father is her fiance, Matt Bellamy of the British band Muse.
Hudson says having another child is likely to make her more choosy about movie roles.
"Sometimes you just want to have fun and play a part and you're not thinking too much about it," says the actress who is scheduled to play Linda Lovelace in an upcoming biopic as well as reprise Darcy in "Something Blue," a "Something Borrowed" sequel. "Now if I'm going to go away (to work), it probably won't be something that I do on a whim. Now I'm going to have two kids."
For the actress, the best part of being pregnant is the teasing she's taking from her son. "He loves making fun of me," says Hudson with a laugh. "He loves going, "You're huge,' and all that kind of stuff."
He's also very caring, she adds. "I put (pepper) on my food the other day and he goes, "Mom, don't eat that.' I said, "Why not?' He said, "The baby might not like spicy.' He's very protective. It's pretty cute."
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