by Gill Pringle in LA
Playing the boss of a Los Angeles basketball team in hit Netflix series Running Point, was not such a stretch for Kate Hudson who learned early on how to operate in a male world.
As the only girl in the Hawn/Russell family – her three brothers are fellow actors Oliver Hudson and Wyatt Russell and TV producer Boston Russell – she has always known how to play well with the boys.
And then, of course, her iconic mother Goldie Hawn raised her to be a strong, outspoken woman who refuses to let her gender define her.
All of which made her the perfect choice to play a powerful woman at the top of the all-male world of basketball.
When FilmInk speaks to Hudson about the show, she’s clearly given a lot of thought as to how a woman might successfully operate in such a high-stakes male-dominated universe.
“I don’t like generalising, because you always find yourself biting your tongue – but I do think women are amazing at strategy. I think actually, we see real long term. We have a great ability to see the big picture,” she argues.
“And if I’m generalising again, men are great executors. They’re not afraid to take certain risks. I think part of it is biological, and part of is just years and years of the psychology of our biology, growing with culture and all that.”
For a woman, staying on top of the game, she believes, takes a singular vision. “I think to actually be able to stay on top as a woman, requires a certain amount of ambition, desire and focus.
“And I hate to say these things, but I would say, you just double the effort. That’s the stuff that I think that people don’t realise, which is systemic sexism. It’s like innate things that sometimes we don’t even realise that we’re doing – or that someone’s doing. Sometimes, women even do it to women. Our jobs have so much higher stakes,” says the actress.
“Women have maybe one or two chances to stay on top, and you just can’t make any mistakes. And I think that pressure is much greater when you want to stay on top. And also, the question of staying on top…” she says.
“And for a woman heading a sports franchise? Definitely the stakes are big. They’re very very high.”
With Running Point now in its second season, Hudson feels even more secure about hitting the right beats in Mindy Kaling’s comedy co-written by Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen,
Once more we meet Hudson’s Isla Gordon, a former party girl who is no longer the surprise choice to lead the Los Angeles Waves. And with the franchise finally rebounding after last year’s scandal, Isla is determined to prove that she’s not just keeping the seat warm for her brother Cam (Justin Theroux).
However, what she doesn’t know is that Cam is quietly maneuvering behind the scenes to reclaim his post, turning every misstep into ammunition. As she tries to balance the pressure of running a franchise with devoting time to her personal life, every decision on and off the court counts.
To survive the family power plays and the scrutiny of the board, she’ll have to rip up last season’s game plan and come up with a whole new playbook if she wants to close out the season on top. With season two of Running Point raising the stakes, the family drama deepens to find even more comedy in what it takes to run a modern sports empire.
With Hudson’s Isla competing against her own brothers to run the family empire, you wonder if the actress has experienced that kind of sibling – or career – rivalry in her own life.
“That’s a great question, because I’ve never felt like, for me, the industry I’m in – which is acting and storytelling – I’ve never been competitive. To me, the arts, it’s an impossible place to be competitive, and you just have to be so focused on what you’re trying to do or what you want to be able to do. “Whereas sports is the exact opposite. I mean, if you don’t have that competitive spirit, it might be hard to be in that industry,” says Hudson, 47.
“But I think the most counterintuitive thing you could do in Hollywood is be competitive. And yet, the best thing you could do in sports is be competitive. It’s pretty linear.
“So, the thing where I do see comparisons in is the dysfunction. You know, people yelling at each other, trying to get things done, trying to get things moving, high stakes, lots of money – you can see that parallel, but definitely not the competitive side,” she says.
More than anything, Hudson loves to entertain. “For me, personally, I love making people laugh. I think it’s like one of the greatest things. Like my mom always said: When you sit in a theater and you hear laughter, it’s like the kiss of God – that’s her line.”
And if we feel like we’ve watched Hudson grow up on the big screen, the difference in the level of fame when you are a small screen star is not lost on her.
“I think this is the most recognisable thing I’ve done,” says the Almost Famous, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Song Sung Blue actress. “I walk down the street and people really know the show, and I never had that before. I’ve never had that experience, because the show is in their home.
“So, to be in your home and be with your family in the comfort of your walls and be able to enjoy and watch a show that everyone can be a part of and laugh at? Where everyone feels the sense of ease and enjoyment and relatability – even though it’s so unrelatable – is an incredible feeling to be able to be a part of.”
As an executive producer on the show, she relishes the opportunity to work with Running Point’s co-creator Mindy Kaling.
“Mindy’s been doing this a while now and she has earned every stripe. She is so good, so smart, and so available. She’s also incredibly generous. She puts the best teams together. She cares deeply about her work, thank God, because we all should,” she smiles.
“But she doesn’t compromise, and at the same time, she also wants it to be really fun for everybody. And, the first season, she was having a baby. She literally had the baby when we just started shooting. So, she was in and out. And then this season, she was off writing and doing a new show. But she has this amazing trust in Ike and Dave, and now I hope – me.
“Mindy is the kind of person who really puts trust in the people that are on the ground. But never think that Mindy’s not watching every single daily, every take, reading every script, every draft, every edit in the editing room. She’s so hands on, and I’ve also learned a lot from her.
“Mindy really is in 1000 different places, and still able to do all of it. And then on top of that, be a great mom. I just find her to be a very special person. I’m very lucky to be able to work with her. Anybody would be – she’s so great, and just wants people to be happy.
“I think that’s a big thing. It’s like when they say the fish stinks from the head, that’s real, right? You’re making a comedy, so you want people to enjoy that work, because you feel it. You see it on the screen, and Mindy very much understands that.”
Running Point: Season 2 is currently streaming
