Kate Hudson discusses her latest film "Mother's Day"

Kate Hudson was thrilled about taking a role in Garry Marshall's latest ensemble, Mother's Day. The actress who has known Marshall for pretty much her entire life calls the veteran director "family" and for her, that's reason enough to jump on board! 

“Mother’s Day” follows the ensemble formula of the director’s 2010 “Valentine’s Day” and 2011 “New Year’s Eve.” Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts and, Jason Sudeikis humorously struggle through the ups and downs ofparenting.

Aniston plays a divorced woman whose two sons seem to like her ex’s new, much younger wife (“Pretty Little Liars’” Shay Mitchell) almost as much as he does. Marshall veteran Roberts (“Pretty Woman,” “Runaway Bride,” “Valentine's Day”) is a Home Shopping Network star with a daughter she’s never known (“Tomorrowland’s” Britt Robertson) who now wants to make contact. Sudeikis is a widower with two daughters who is dreading holiday memories of his recent loss.  

Hudson’s plays Jesse, a woman with her own dilemmas and issues.  Jesse lives in a comfy Atlanta neighborhood next door to her sister Gabi (Sarah Chalke of “Scrubs”) and, even more comfortably, far away from their estranged, narrow-minded parents in Texas. Their mom and dad (Margo Martindale and Robert Pine) don’t know that Gabi is gay and Jesse and her doctor husband Russell (Aasif Mandvi of “The Daily Show”) have a little boy – or that she’s even married to an Indian American.  When her parents show up for a surprise visit, chaos ensues which brings upheaval to Jesse's secret world.

Hudson who was seven years old when she first met Garry Marshall. He was directing her parents Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in the comedy and had little Kate join him on set to help him yell, "Action" and Cut" between takes. It is something that Kate will never forget, reminiscing about how kind and funny the director was. Fast forward about twenty years when Kate herself starred in Marshall's film, Raising Helen. She says it was like going home. 

Kate loved the conflict that her character Jesse faces, not so much from her parent's prejudices but from her husband’s discovery that Jesse has not only been hiding him from them but lying to him too. "Only Garry Marshall can handle this type of situation with humour and dignity," Kate said during our recent interview in Los Angeles. "I completely trusted him and once I saw the script I knew my instincts were on the mark."

Hudson was married to Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson, (they divorced after a few years of marriage, they have one son - Ryder) and she was engaged for a while to Muse’s Matthew Bellamy (with whom she also has a son.) She says she’s never really known her biological father, musician Bill Hudson, and has always considered her mom Goldie Hawn’s longtime partner Kurt Russell to be her dad who has always been supportive on both a professional and personal level.

As for what's next for Kate Hudson, there's plenty of projects in the works including the upcoming film, Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg and helming her growing company of workout wear called, Fabletics. One thing's for sure, if Garry Marshall calls her for his next film there will be no hesitation. As long as he's making and movies and wants her on board, she will always come running.

Check out my recent interview with Kate Hudson and co-star Assif Mandvi talking about working with Garry Marshall on Mother's Day. 

Mother's Day is now playing at a theatre near you!