Kate Hudson: Sunshine and Cigarettes

Those who are in the know are forecasting major things for Kate Hudson, the 19-year-old whose megawatt sunshine lights the darkly comic 200 Cigarettes. Her director, Risa Bramon Garcia, has already declared her "the biggest movie star I've ever seen." That's saying something, because the ensemble cast of 200 Cigarettes includes Courtney Love, Ben and Casey Affleck, Christina Ricci, Paul Rudd and Jay Mohr.

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"It's nerve-wracking," Hudson says about this to-do. "I have a big, flamboyant, open personality, which I think is why people may be saying these nice things about me. But these high expectations sometimes make me feel like I'm under a microscope -- especially with my mother being who she is."

Oh, right. The mom factor. Hudson is the daughter of comic confection Goldie Hawn. Her father is comedian Bill Hudson, but she was raised primarily by Hawn and Kurt Russell (alongside brothers Boston, Oliver and Wyatt), after Hudson and Hawn were over. "I'm proud she's my mother and that Kurt is my dad. Growing up idolizing and loving them as I do, I watched them having fun acting, and you want that kind of fun for yourself, too.

"I think the acting thing is genetic," she continues, "because two of my brothers also have a natural thing for performing." When Hudson's acting genes clicked on, she floored Hawn and Russell by suddenly landing an agent and quietly auditioning for a role in 1996's Escape From L.A., which just happened to star Russell. "ICM called my mom and said, 'What? Your daughter's acting now?' And she was, like, 'I guess so.'"

As for those cries of "nepotism," Hudson's already heard them and more. "I'm prepared for people saying I got jobs because of my parents and I'm prepared for comparisons to my mom," she asserts. "But whatever anybody says, when you're going through the auditioning process, you have to be strong." Hudson was well aware that many strong and better-known actresses wanted to play the role of the naive, klutzy, delectable control freak she landed in 200 Cigarettes. "I got lucky, but I [also] studied my ass off. When Risa wanted me but the head guy at the studio didn't think I was mature enough, I went in to meet him and gave him advice on life. I guess I was mature enough."

Hudson's career may shift into even higher gear with the Joel Schumacher executive-produced studio film Gossip, a highly charged college-campus drama she describes as "very timely because it's about how gossip runs the world, about how people want to gossip about anything controversial, and how destructive gossip is." Given her rising profile and famous parents, it's virtually inevitable that Hudson will end up a subject of gossip herself. She's been linked with such actors as Matt LeBlanc, and had an 18-month relationship with actor Eli Craig. "I haven't been too lucky in relationships," she admits.

"Before Eli, I dated this guy on and off for two-and-a-half years, continuing I get hurt until I just couldn't get hurt anymore. Not really knowing my real father translates into my own relationships with men. If we hadn't eventually had the blessing of Kurt in our lives, God knows what would have happened. I don't hate my father, I just don't know why he never saw us. I still hope for the little acknowledgment of that one phone call, even if it's just, 'Hey, how's it going?'"

However it goes for Hudson, her showbiz parents have already spelled out the realities for her. "My dad and mom keep me grounded," she says, "by reminding me that although I'm working all the time now, there'll also be a time when I'm not." But don't get the idea that Goldie and Kurt pipe up with adages for every occasion: "My parents give advice but never intrude, whether it's career, friendships, love relationships. With acting, they just let the leash off my neck and let me go."

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Stephen Rebello