by Paul Fischer

Nothing, it seems, fazes Kate Hudson. All smiles and good humored, despite her late night at Puff Diddy's post-MTV Movie Awards party, the beautiful blonde actress gets to play an assortment of characters in Rob Reiner's oddball romantic comedy Alex and Emma. She plays an outspoken stenographer helping novelist-in-debt Luke Wilson complete his period novel in 30 days, while also finding her way in Wilson's fictional world. The actress said it wasn't difficult getting into the role of a secretary. "I actually used to work as a receptionist in my mother's company She figured 'Why not have one of my kids be the receptionist, instead of paying one,' like a true Jewish mother. So I had a little bit of knowledge about secretarial services." But it is German maid Elsa that remains "the one that I think I loved! I mean beyond loved, because I want to do a spin off Elsa movie as she was so crazy. The second I was in my Elsa costume I would just start talking about her."She was clearly attracted to Alex and Emma for no other reason than the opportunity to work with the legendary Rob Reiner. "Spinal Tap is one of my favorite movies. I have always been a big Rob Reiner fan in general, I'd go out and see all his movies, so just the opportunity to work with him was a dream come true."

It may seem that Hudson, 24, has the market share of romantic comedies these days. Perhaps it is because in her own life, she has found true love and happiness with her musician husband Chris Robinson. Since Alex and Emma is a film that thematically explores art and reality, one wonders whether Hudson's relationship with her husband would make a good movie. "Yeah, it
would make a really great movie because of the way we met and what we've done; there are a lot of characters and interesting stories. In the beginning we were so volatile. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of our own relationship, 'cause we were just so in love and passionate, then we would just hate each other, throw stuff around and then we would
travel to Paris for a week." The volatility and hostility in Kate's relationship with Chris, eventually calmed down, but it wasn't easy. "I think just after you spend more time together, then you also start spending some time apart. I also think Chris realized that when he broke two chairs in the house which cost him a couple of grand, he probably went, 'I am not gonna throw anything anymore.' "In the time that I've been interviewing Hudson, one doesn't associate the sweet-natured actress with volatility, but the actress admits to having a dark side, "especially if something that somebody does in my life pisses me off. I don't have a bad temper, but I am definitely vocal. I am not somebody that lets things blow over. I immediately want to talk about the problems that exist and then if they are not talked about I make them talk about it and then they go crazy," she says.

Hudson and her husband are now enjoying marital domesticity, trying to be as far removed from their public personas as possible. Rather than party and rage on a Saturday night, the couple would rather play board games. "We have game nights, which is fun as all of our friends really love to play games."