Firmly back in blonde, bubbly mode, Fool’s Gold is a connections movie for Kate Hudson. Director Andy Tennant used to dance professionally with her mother Goldie Hawn, co-star Donald Sutherland was in her parents’ circle of friends in the ‘70s and she’s re-teaming with Matthew McConaughey for their second rom-com, playing a squabbling couple on the hunt for sunken treasure in the Caribbean (albeit shot in Australia).
Q:Is it an adrenalin rush doing a movie like this, where you’re outdoors all the time and presumably doing plenty of action?
A:I think it totally depends on the movie. This is totally messed up because it’s definitely an action movie so you have days where, like, there’s going to be an explosion, although really those are the days that are the most tedious because it takes like two hours to re-rig the dynamite and you’re sitting there and the director’s going like, “…and, Boom!!” and you have to pretend and everybody’s laughing at you. So those scenes are the most tedious days and then there are those days when you do the fighting sequences, which you don’t realise but your adrenalin starts going as if you were in an actual fight! You don’t realise how exhausted you are. You are so pumped.
Q:Who do you fight?
A:The bad guys! I get kidnapped at one point and I try to fight my way out of the situation. Tess is definitely an action person but she’s like a tough litle girl so she can’t ever back down from anything. She’s uncomfortable in fight situations but she always ends up getting through them so it’s fun to play. It’s playing the shovel going into somebody’s face with all conviction and then her shock at a shovel going into somebody’s face.
Q:Is it slapstick fighting, did you get any training or is it all improvised?
A:No, it’s definitely very choreographed and it’s funny. I’ve never worked with guns either – that’s new and that’s something that definitely was kind of a scary experience because you really have to be careful when you’re working with guns. I had my first ever gun pointed at my head. But most of the action happens in this movie underwater and I have to do a lot of free diving. I’ve been learning how to breathe longer, expand my lungs.
Q:Did you get your scuba certificate?
A:Yes, I got certified on the Great Barrier Reef! It’s in my wallet – I get to carry it with me everywhere I go! You can do the training in a week, but it’s at the diver’s pace, everyone does it differently. Matthew got certified in five seconds, it took me a couple of weeks. I’ve gotten over a lot of fears on this movie, especially like diving period. I didn’t think I would be so scared to get in the water with all that scuba gear on and all of a sudden you’re pressing the deflate button and you start going down and you feel the weight and you start… it kind of freaked me out, especially being in Australia where there are so many things that can kill you.
Q:How is Tess different from other characters you’ve played?
A:She’s feisty, she’s strong, she kind of wears everything out on her sleeve, but she’s a much tougher character than I’ve ever played. She’s definitely more of a tomboy. I’m not wearing any Hermes scarves in this movie, that’s for sure. She’s a diver.
Q:How confident are you when you know you’re not wearing much on screen? Do you worry?
A:I don’t really worry, you know, because I’ve danced my whole life, I work out all the time, it makes me feel good and I’m not worried about being totally perfect. I’m actually quite strong in this movie. I had this thing where I was like, “I’m going to be Matthew’s diving partner, I have to buff up a little bit so I better get a little more bicep.” Plus she’s a diver, so I’m not in this tiny little string bikini – they’re more the Speedo type bikini – you know, the ones that cover pretty much everything.
Q:It’s your second movie with Matthew McConaughey. He sums it up that you flirt well together and you fight well together. Do you think you two interact well?
A:You know, Matthew has one of those very youthful spirits that some people might call crazy, others call it a blast and I can really appreciate that. Matthew is so much fun and those are the people that sometimes drive you the most crazy, the ones with those ‘out there’ personalities, but I have the same kind of thing so I think we recognise it in each other and appreciate it. There is not a mean bone in Matthew’s body, which I love, and that’s really hard to find in people period. Matthew just wants to have a good time and that’s why I can connect with him. He really does have a spirit that can be contagious. It’s like, “Gosh, he’s really having a great time in everything he’s doing, whether he’s working or he’s playing.” I think maybe there’s something in that for me.
Q:How was director Andy Tennant to work with?
A:Andy was a jazz dancer, and actually danced with my Mom which was kind of a craze back in the day which was kind of funny. But I guess just because I grew up around a lot of dancers – my mom was married to a dancer, my aunts danced – there’s something about that way you move your body or how you involve yourself in something that I really connect with Andy because I literally can see him make a movement and I know exactly what he’s talking about in terms of how he wants me to make a scene, whether it’s bigger or with more physicality or more emotional. He’ll do something with his body and I’ll think, “Yes, I know what this means (laughs)!”
Q:How is it for you when you spend months on a set and then you have to go back to your life?
A:It’s weird. There’s a hard transition when you get home, especially when you fall in love with certain places. I remember when I came back from Ireland – I shot a movie in Ireland – and that was very difficult for me. I fell madly in love with Ireland and I may have the same thing with Australia but it’s more about Australia as a whole. The Gold Coast is one thing but it’s like going to Miami in the late 70s whereas you go down to Byron Bay or you go up to Port Douglas and they’re just little gems.
Q:Do you ever get depressed when you go back to your life?
A:No, usually you’re pretty happy. When you have a family you’re pretty happy to get home to your bed. Especially when you’ve been away for five months, I think you’re ready. I get depressed after work – and I wouldn’t say depressed because that’s the wrong word, it would be more like an unloading – but you get home and you’ve got a lot to do and then all of a sudden you’ve got nothing to do and that’s usually when you call your agent and say, “What’s going on? Is there anything to do?” And it’s only a week later.
‘Fool’s Gold’ is in Irish cinemas, Friday April 18th.