Kate Hudson on Working with "Pa" Kurt Russell in Deepwater Horizon: "It Was Really Rare and Special"

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It's pretty customary for an actor to cite a fascinating script or intriguing character as the reason they wanted to get involved in a film. But for Kate Hudson, taking on a role in Deepwater Horizon was even more meaningful because she got to share the experience with her dad Kurt Russell.

"I knew the script was interesting and I knew I wanted to work with Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg , but I also wanted to be involved in this because of my dad," says Hudson of Russell, who plays Jimmy, an offshore installation manager in the movie. "It was great to be filming in New Orleans as a family. It was summer, so Pa actually lived with my brother Oliver, who was shooting Scream Queens there. They got a house together with Ollie's kids and I would bring my kids, so we made it a big family thing for about a month. I knew it was really rare and special."

Even though Hudson and Russell didn't share screen time, she says they still have a blast just spending time together. "It was different because we didn't really work together in scenes," she says. "But now we get to travel to premieres with each other to promote the film and that's really fun. Just the other night, I was out and when I got home I thought 'why did I come home so early?' And then I was like, I think because my dad is here, I got in my childhood head and thought 'Pa is going to see me come in and it's too late!'" she says, joking about a curfew. "But usually he's going out with me!"

In the film, Hudson plays Felicia Williams, the wife of Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) who is an oil rig worker fighting to survive when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes. Since the movie was based on the real-life events, which took place in 2010 and caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Hudson spent time with the real Felicia Williams before she started filming. "She was incredibly generous about sharing that moment in her life," says Hudson. "Reopening that wound is not easy for people who suffer from traumatic experiences, but she is a strong woman. She was trying to hold it together for her daughter. And she represents what the family members of the rig workers were feeling at the time of the explosion, not knowing if your loved one was going to make it home."

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Hudson says she had crossed paths years earlier with her co-star Wahlberg, but Deepwater was the first time she really got to know him. "When we were younger, I remember we would hang out a bit, but I didn't really know Mark," she says. "But it was really easy. We're both family people. And there was no difficulty trying to create the chemistry. It was seamless."

And as for the finished product? "I'm not a shameless promoter," she says. "But when I finally watched the movie, I was completely engaged. It made me feel very emotional in the end, which is really rare when you're in something and still feel that way. It tells a different side of a story that we all know and have seen from a far."

Deepwater Horizon is in theaters Sept. 30. Watch the trailer above.