Kate Hudson was the guest of honor at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer of the Year dinner on Wednesday, and used her moment to show some love to her parents, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
The event, held at the Beverly Hilton, celebrated both Hudson’s career achievements — particularly as she fronts the upcoming music drama Song Sung Blue — as well as her philanthropic efforts. Running Point co-creator Ike Barinholtz served as host of the evening, as he told the crowd, “I love Kate Hudson because to me, she is Los Angeles. I joke that Kate wasn’t born, she just one day emerged from the Pacific Ocean in a bikini — but we know that’s not true because she came from one of our greatest artists, and like her mother she has become a huge beacon of light in our business and in her community of the Palisades. Kate loves her neighbors so much and I know how deeply affected she was by the fires; she was lucky enough to make it out that night but a lot of friends of hers lost a lot, and she has been doing so much to help that community and to help her friends get back to normal.”
When Hudson later took the stage — accepting her honor from Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe, who she declared “changed my life in a million ways” — she spent much of her speech talking about her family, noting, “I’ve always felt that what I do represents something larger than myself; it’s my family, it’s my children, it’s my inner circle, it’s the larger circle. I don’t strive for perfection, I find that very boring, but I do try to live in a way that they can be proud of.”
She then directed her attention to Hawn, calling her, “My great teacher, my model, the great philanthropist of our family, who’s dedicated the last 25 years of her life to not the arts, but to children. Thank you for teaching me to think not about what I will do in my life, but who I’m continuing to become and to live with purpose and compassion.” And to Russell she continued, “Pa, thank you for raising me in your vibrant world, for keeping me grounded and reminding me of the power of narrative and the importance of building character — and not just in the roles that we play, but in life and in the home.”
Hudson teasingly added, “And I want to thank my mom and my pa for being an example of true love and what commitment is — and for having the courage and the confidence and the discipline to have the same hairstyles for 40 years,” to laughs from the crowd. “Because of them, I was so lucky to grow up just surrounded by artists, great artists. And to me, artists, they’re the rebels and the romantics, the tap dancers — It’s the most beautiful world to be immersed in and to grow up in, and I’m just endlessly grateful that I still get to explore that every day.”
With the crowd mostly comprised of studio and theater execs, Hudson also acknowledged, “the success you’ve had lately proves that people still crave coming together, that they still want to laugh and they want to cry and they want to feel something collectively. Because a shared experience like this, it helps us understand each other better, it allows for empathy, and it’s a way of bringing people together who may believe that they are different. We’re all a part of that magic and I’m so grateful to be able to share it with all of you.”
And as Song Sung Blue — in which she stars alongside Hugh Jackman in a story about two down-on-their-luck performers who form a Neil Diamond tribute band — is set to come out in December, Hudson said, “This film is about having someone who believes in you and you cannot quite believe in yourself. And isn’t that the essence of this foundation — to believe in one another, to give hope and purpose and support when it’s needed most?”
Alongside Barinholtz and Crowe — who raved, “If you’re a young actor today looking for an example of how to summon pain, sorrow, joy, laughter, more joy in a single moment, that road leads you to Kate Hudson” — a star-studded group of Hudson’s friends also sent video messages in support, including Jackman, Matthew McConaughey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon, along with remarks from Bleecker Street Media president of distribution and Pioneers Assistance Fund Committee chairman Kyle Davies, and Focus Features president of distribution and Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation president Lisa Bunnell.
The event raised $1.3 million benefitting the Will Rogers Pioneers Assistance Fund, which provides financial support and social services to working and retired members of the motion picture distribution and exhibition community.
