After earning a Best Actress nod at the 2026 Academy Awards, the “Song Sung Blue” star made a deliberate choice to slow down
Fresh off one of the biggest awards seasons of her career, Kate Hudson made it clear she wasn’t about to let the Hollywood machine keep running at full speed.
The 47-year-old actress told PEOPLE that while the buzz surrounding her Best Actress Oscar nomination for Song Sung Blue was “so fun,” she made a conscious decision to decompress after the Academy Awards wrapped up in March 2026. “I took spring break with my kids and I just shut everything down,” she said at the Hollywood premiere of Netflix‘s Running Point Season 2.
Hudson is mom to three kids — sons Ryder Russell, 22, and Bingham Hawn, 14, and daughter Rani Rose, 7.
What makes this awards run even more special is the history behind it. Hudson’s nomination came 25 years after her first Oscar nod for Almost Famous (2000), and she’s described this second experience as far more meaningful — comparing it to having a third baby: “You soak in everything very differently.” The nomination also carried a deeply personal emotional weight, as her mother Goldie Hawn won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar back in 1970 for Cactus Flower.
Hudson was nominated for playing Claire “Thunder” Sardinia in Song Sung Blue, a film based on the true story of a real-life Neil Diamond tribute band called “Lightning & Thunder.” What’s interesting is how she landed the role in the first place — Hugh Jackman, who plays Mike “Lightning” Sardinia, spotted Hudson singing on CBS’ Sunday Morning and texted director Craig Brewer to recommend her.
Hudson met the real Claire Sardina at the film’s New York City premiere on December 11, 2025 at AMC Lincoln Square Theater. The film went on to gross $58 million at the box office, earn a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and score an “A” on CinemaScore. Beyond the Oscar nod, Hudson also picked up nominations at the 2026 BAFTAs and Golden Globes in the Best Actress category.
Hudson said she feels genuinely grateful for the friendships she built during this awards season with her fellow nominees — Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), Emma Stone (Bugonia), and Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), who ultimately took home the Oscar at the March 15, 2026 ceremony.
“In reflection, I’m so lucky that I got to be able to have that experience. And I loved everybody on the ride with them. All of the people that were on that journey were so awesome, so fun, so together, and I just loved everything,” the Almost Famous star said.
