Being a nepo baby in Hollywood and business is a ‘different beast’, says actress Kate Hudson

NEW YORK – In Running Point, Kate Hudson plays an underachieving former party girl suddenly put in charge of the basketball team her family owns.

And the sports comedy – co-created by American actress Mindy Kaling and available on Netflix – repeatedly makes jokes about her character being a “nepo baby”, or beneficiary of nepotism.

This could be seen as ironic given that Hudson is viewed by some as a nepo baby herself, having been raised by two Hollywood stars – mother Goldie Hawn, 79, and Hawn’s long-time boyfriend Kurt Russell, 74.

But the 45-year-old American actress does not think nepotism gets you very far in her profession.

“‘Nepo baby’ in the arts doesn’t really make sense because you either like what people do or you don’t,” says Hudson at a New York screening of Running Point. The series also stars Chet Hanks, the 34-year-old son of American actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, both 68.

“So, nepotism could get your foot in the door – you know certain people, you grew up with certain people – but you’re either going to be someone who makes it happen or not.”

However, nepotism in business is a totally different thing, adds Hudson, who starred in the musical drama Almost Famous (2000) and romantic comedies such as How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (2003).

“Because, like in this show, when it’s a big high-stakes business with a lot of money involved and the family hires family, now we’re talking real nepotism, and that’s a whole different beast.”

Her character, Isla Gordon, is loosely based on real-life American basketball executive Jeanie Buss, 63.

Ms Buss inherited the role of president of the Los Angeles Lakers following the 2013 death of her father and, after a power struggle with her brothers, went on to lead the team to a National Basketball Association championship.

Hudson and Ms Buss are both executive producers on Running Point. They first met by chance decades ago, running into each other at the VIP lounge shared by the Lakers and Los Angeles Kings, the city’s ice hockey team, in the 1990s.

Recalls Hudson, who also starred in the murder mystery Glass Onion (2022): “We were a big Kings family back in their golden era, and I was a very curious 15-year-old girl and I’d find my way to the bar.

“And Jeanie ran the club and sort of kept me out of trouble.

“It was how I met her. She was like, ‘You’re not supposed to be in here – I’ll show you around.’”

And there was an instant connection between the two.

“She took a real liking to me. I think she probably understood what it was like to be a little LA girl with a family that was busy doing other things, and we would hang out and she’d show me around.

“But then, we lost sight of each other and this is sort of a full-circle thing.

“I hadn’t seen Jeanie for 20 years when we started working on this. It was really cool,” adds Hudson, who is engaged to American musician Danny Fujikawa, 38, and has a six-year-old daughter with him. She also has two sons, aged 21 and 13, from previous relationships.

But the actress says her American co-star Brenda Song, 36, who plays Isla’s best friend and chief of staff Ali Lee, is much more like Ms Buss when it comes to an obsessive interest in sports.

“Brenda could have her own sports show. She knows more about sports than anybody I know, from trades to statistics.

“She’d come onto set and, of course she’d know her lines, but she was interested only in the trade that happened the day before.”

Song, who appeared in the drama film The Last Showgirl (2024), was tickled when she had to explain the ins and outs of basketball to Hudson – and the latter’s eyes would glaze over.

“That’s what was fun about our dynamic,” says the former Disney Channel child star, who has two sons aged three and two with her partner, American actor Macaulay Culkin, 44.

“Kate was, like, ‘What does this mean?’ And I’d be, like, ‘Let me tell you.’ Then Kate would go, ‘That’s enough, you can stop now.’”