Kate Hudson Says Nine Director Rob Marshall Got Her Bit by ‘the Movie Musical Bug’

Kate Hudson is singing Rob Marshall’s praises.

The actress, 46, was honored with the Icon Award for her performance in Song Sung Blue at the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s glamorous film awards gala in Palm Springs, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 3. While accepting the award onstage, she gave a shout-out to Marshall, 65, and credited him with sparking her interest in projects that allow her to test her vocal chops.

“You are directly responsible for giving me the movie musical bug,” she told the director.

“And it started with six weeks of rehearsals, three giant fans for dramatic hair, which was a dream come true. And a 15-lb. crystal costume, which I danced in for two days and lost about 5 lbs.,” she continued, referring to her role as Vogue fashion journalist Stephanie Necrophorus in the 2009 movie Nine.

Marshall directed the romantic musical drama, loosely based on the musical of the same name.

“It was a lot of performance, full performance takes, and it made me think that I wish I could do this forever,” Hudson added to Marshall in her speech. “Yes, Song Sung Blue is a very different kind of sparkle, but somehow this feels very full-circle. So thank you, and I love you.”

She also told the director that working with him has been “one of the great joys” of her career.

In writer-director Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue, Hudson and Hugh Jackman play the real-life Claire and Mike Sardina, a Milwaukee couple who became local legends by forming a hit Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning & Thunder.

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After her award win in Palm Springs, Hudson will be a contender at the Jan. 11 Golden Globe Awards for her lead performance. 

“Kate Hudson’s turn in Song Sung Blue is deeply moving, bringing warmth, vulnerability and musical confidence to a role that demands both heart and grit,” Palm Springs International Film Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a Dec. 9 statement. “From her breakthrough in Almost Famous to her fearless turns in romance, comedy and drama across her career, she has shown a remarkable ability to evolve as an artist.”

During her acceptance speech at Saturday’s awards gala, Hudson also took a moment to thank the “extraordinary” Neil Diamond for “his generosity and allowing us to explore his catalog of music,” as well as Jackman, 57, and the rest of the Song Sung Blue cast.

Other Palm Springs International Film Festival gala honorees this year included Miley Cyrus, Timothée Chalamet, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Sandler and Michael B. Jordan.

Song Sung Blue is in theaters now.