Well, we found it: The one possible reason you might not want Goldie Hawn to be your mom. The New York Times ran an oral history this week of beloved teen romance/Shakespeare adaptation 10 Things I Hate About You, dishing up some obscure details about the Julia Stiles/Heath Ledger production. Like, for instance, the fact that it almost wasn’t a Julia Stiles part at all, until Goldie stepped in and nixed the idea of her daughter Kate Hudson taking the part of the quick-witted Kat.
This is per the film’s casting director, Marcia Ross, who detailed the line-up of young Hollywood royalty that was considered for the movie’s paired leads. “We screen-tested Josh Hartnett, Eliza Dushku, Heath and Julia. But Julia and Heath just had the best chemistry together. I loved Katie Holmes. She was about to get Dawson’s Creek, and we had to make a decision really fast. The other person I loved was Kate Hudson.” Which, sure: Who doesn’t love Kate Hudson?
But Hudson’s mom Goldie didn’t love the movie’s script, apparently, and so she nixed it. Which is probably a blessing, now that we think about it, since that alternate universe where Hudson starred in both 10 Things I Hate About You and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days probably would have spawned all sort of nerdy internet “shared universe” theories in our Reddit-speculation modern age.