“I think when you’re younger, you don’t want to be pigeonholed,” Kate Hudson said
Kate Hudson is happy to be known for her romantic comedies, but she has more to offer.
When Hudson, 45, appeared on the Thursday, March 6 episode of the Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce podcast to promote her Netflix sports series Running Point, Kelce, 32, asked the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star if she likes being called “the rom-com queen.”
“It’s a mixed feeling because — now that I’m older I love it,” Hudson said. “I think what happens when you have a very successful rom-com, it sort of becomes what people expect from you and want from you, and as an actor you’re sort of like, ‘Yeah, but I want to do a million different things.’ “
Hudson famously broke out as an actress with an Oscar-nominated performance in 2000’s coming-of-age musical drama Almost Famous. For much of the 2000s, she starred in popular rom-coms like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, You, Me and Dupree, Fool’s Gold and Bride Wars, among others.
“As Hollywood goes, they love to put you in a box. They love it. And so I think when you’re younger, you don’t want to be pigeonholed into an idea that that’s what you do. And the second you have success in a rom-com as a woman, it’s like they just want you in that,” Hudson added. “So it’s like you love it, and then at the same time you’re like, ‘Yeah, but I want to do other things. I don’t want to just do this all the time.’ “
Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.Michael Gibson/Paramount
Hudson has certainly tried to diversify her career despite her knack for success in the genre. She fulfilled a lifelong dream to release music as a singer-songwriter with her 2024 debut album Glorious — telling PEOPLE in May 2024 that “pursuing music took a very far back seat to what was happening in my career” when she first found success in acting — and even has said she’s thrilled that Running Point does not just focus on her character’s romances.
“Look, don’t get me wrong, I love a rom-com. I love when it’s all about the relationships,” she told PEOPLE in February. “But to do a comedy set in such a high-stakes environment that’s about family dynamics — to me, [that] is just so much fun.”
Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson in You, Me and Dupree. Universal Studios.
“It’s not just all about romance,” she added in that interview, noting that a lack of emphasis on her character Isla Gordon’s love life was “one of the big things for me” that convinced her to join the series.
Running Point is streaming on Netflix now.