Kate Hudson on ‘Song Sung Blue’

W
hen Kate Hudson finally released a debut album in 2024 after years of hesitation, it launched the music career she always wanted — and led directly to one of her most challenging acting roles. Seeing Hudson talk about her music in an interview, Hugh Jackman realized she’d be the perfect co-star for Song Sung Blue (out Dec. 25), which tells the true story of a working-class couple who find both glory and tragedy as a Neil Diamond tribute act. 

In an interview for Rolling Stone‘s “Last Word” column, Hudson — whose performance has already earned her a Golden Globe nomination — talks about the making of the film, hanging out with the real Neil Diamond, her own musical future, and some of her most important lessons learned.

What advice would you give a young Kate Hudson?
Invest in more art! I should have bought that Basquiat in the Nineties [laughs]. No, honestly, I live a very unconventional life and yet somehow managed to have a family unit I’m really proud of. If I went back, I would tell myself it’s OK to do some things for yourself, because I always felt I had to be there for everybody else. Every sacrifice I made was because I wanted to be home with my kids, and their dads were out on the road. I am so grateful that it was hard for me to leave my family, but there were definitely creative things that would’ve been different if I felt it was OK to do things for myself. I would have made music sooner. But the insecurity is real. The fear of upsetting the apple cart is real. 

Last year, you finally made that music and released a debut album after hesitating about it forever. How much has that changed your life?
It was maybe the best decision I’ve ever made. The latter half of my life, it’s that moment where you actually look at what you’re putting out creatively and if you’re satisfied with it, and [ask] as a creative, “Am I happy with everything I’ve left if I died today?” My answer was a big no. Not that I haven’t done things that I’m proud of, but I didn’t feel like my output was as authentic or honest as it could be.…  I was shocked at what came back at me [after the album]. I was not expecting women to come up to me and be like, “I’ve always wanted to do this thing in my forties. And you doing this makes me feel like I can do anything I want.” I feel like I’m just getting started.

Between you and Hugh Jackman, who loves singing more? Or is it a tie?
[Laughs.] It’s definitely a tie. I feel like I’d be dead without it. I really do. ’Cause I could sing by myself. I could sing with three people in a room. It’s my happy place. And Hugh’s the same. But Hugh has this enormous generosity of spirit when I am performing with him. He’s way more connected to the audience and engaged in bringing them in. I, like, get weird in my head. It’s so nice to perform with him because, by the end of a show, he’ll know everybody’s name in the front row. It’s so funny.

How important is it to you to step out of romantic-comedy roles?
I  don’t get these opportunities often. People get used to seeing you a certain way and they want to see you a certain way, and I love that. But I became a performer to do all kinds of different things.

When you say you love that — do you really?
I do! Because I love comedy. People think that it’s easy because it feels effortless. The reality is it actually takes a lot more effort and intelligence about the craft then it is given credit. So I love making movies like that. The problem is that [studios] don’t invest in them like they used to, and it’s really hard to make good ones. It’s almost like you’d rather be in an indie movie with no pressure than a big rom-com where there’s a lot of pressure and expectation, business-wise. It’s been my blessing, and also the thing that boxes you in. 

Your Song Sung Blue character experiences a horrible trauma and then a breakdown. How do you tackle that emotional work?
I  don’t know where those things come from. It almost feels like channeling. It almost feels out-of-body. I asked Neil Diamond, “What’s your favorite song you’ve ever written?” And he said, “‘I Am … I Said,’ because I was having all these conflicting moments in my life. I was having a hard time writing this song, and all of a sudden it just channeled.” I feel that way about performing. You just have to go there and allow something to happen.

It’s also nice to remember that tragedy is something that we all experience. No matter what. There was a great guru who said, “People live in this anxiety of ‘something bad’s gonna happen.’” And he said, “Tragedy is imminent.” We all experience some form of tragedy at some point in our lives. The hard part is joy. The hard thing is actually [figuring out] how to live here and now, so that when you get to the tragic part, you actually had great life experience. And I think that’s the essence of this movie.

There are so many themes, but one of them is this idea that lightning can strike twice. What are we doing if we’re not doing everything that we love? To live in fear is no life at all. What is it to love something so much that it doesn’t matter where you’re doing it, but that you’re living your dream? Or what is it to actually love someone so much that you can stick through all of it with them?

What was your initial reaction when you realized the dark turn the story takes?
Definitely anxiety, meaning that it could go in a different direction if it’s not executed to exactly what you read in the script. The script was wonderful, but it could have gone the other direction. You’ve got accents and Eighties sequins. And really at the heart of it is this love story that, if you don’t believe it, the movie doesn’t work. And that was my biggest thing — I knew I could deliver the goods. I believe in myself enough that I could deliver what was on the page. What you can’t know is the chemistry. And this movie wouldn’t be a movie if Hugh and I didn’t have a real intimate connection.

What did it take to get there with Hugh?
When I met Hugh, I said to him, “I’m super tactile. I really feel like we need to get close. And if we don’t work, the movie’s not gonna work. And just let me know when you feel uncomfortable.” But it was immediate. It was like I’d been married to him for years. And I don’t know what that is. I don’t know why that happens or if it’s like something outside of ourselves. But it was so wonderful immediately, and I felt so much love for him and I think vice versa. Everything came together at the perfect time for us on this movie. So we had this closeness that hopefully came across.

You mentioned talking to Neil Diamond in the context of this project. What was that like?
I actually talked to him after. I grew up in Colorado, and he lives like 10 minutes from where I grew up. I go home all the time, and I called [once] and was like, “Is Neil here?” Because I’ve never met him. And he was so excited, and Katie, his wife, was like, “Please come over.”

We just sat on his porch and had the best day. It was after we made the movie, and he had seen it, and I just felt very lucky. He was so grateful for this movie. He said, “I don’t know what it is about my music, but every decade or so something brings it back to life.” He was so thankful to [director] Craig [Brewer] and all of us for doing the movie. It really made me very emotional being with Neil, because he’s decided to retire and he’s living a very quiet life there. And we just sat and had lemonade on the porch.

How well did you know his music before this?
I didn’t know his music very well. I know all the big stuff, of course. Everyone’s a fan of all the [songs] that you know. But I’d never really gotten into his music. And then when we got this movie, I immediately went into all of his stuff. He’s so prolific and his music has so much love. It’s so joyous and connective. Then he has these songs like “Been Here Before,” the one I sing at the end of the movie. And I’m like, “Where did this song come from?” So through this process I became a giant Neil Diamond fan. And then I met him and on top of it, he’s a great guy.

You have concert scenes with an actor playing a young Eddie Vedder in the new movie. As someone who lived through that era as a huge music fan, did that feel weird?
So weird. I would’ve been in the audience as a teenager [at the time]. Nineties in high school was the best. I also had moments where I would sit in our [characters’] house and I’d look at the television set and I was like, “God, it was so nice to sit around a sofa and watch one program.” It was so much simpler. 

What’s going on with your next album?
The last time it was really important that it was super homegrown. And now I’ve been writing with a lot of different people, which has been really interesting and really fun for me. I [also] really like writing alone. I watched Deliver Me From Nowhere, and as a writer, I really had a real emotional experience. I love Nebraska so much. I do know that I have a ton of music. I have one song that’s like Nineties Janet Jackson, and a little Prince. I look forward to putting music out, which will be probably next year.