Kate Hudson: Rom-Coms Have Been 'Dumbed Down' in Recent Years

Kate Hudson: Rom-Coms Have Been 'Dumbed Down' in Recent Years,Kate Hudson shared her true thoughts about the rom-com genre, and detailed what goes into making a good romantic comedy.

Kate Hudson: Rom-Coms Have Been ‘Dumbed Down’ in Recent Years

Kate Hudson is calling out recent romantic comedies.

Rom-com queen Hudson, who starred opposite Matthew McConaughey in beloved classic “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” among others, revealed her rules for a good rom-com — and dished on why studios aren’t keen on making them anymore.

“[They need] an actually good story, let’s start with that,” Hudson said during the “Hot Ones” YouTube show. “I think sometimes people think rom-coms are all about the ‘meet cute.’ A great rom-com is about meeting love, discovering love, falling in love, love falling apart, and then how you come back together. That’s a very traditional rom-com structure.”

She continued, “The ones that we love are with two movie stars in a love story. They’re shiny and they’re bright and it’s like wish fulfillment. It’s supposed to make you feel fuzzy, and then they stay with you forever. They’re the most classic.”

The “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” actress warned, “But just because they’re supposed to feel bright doesn’t mean they need to look so bright. A lot of times, again, I think the genre gets kind of dumbed down because they think they know. And then the chemistry…so I’m grateful that it was me and Matthew [McConaughey] because he’s a blast.”

Hudson joked, “I feel like I’m really winning at this description of a rom-com! That’s the class I’m going to be [teaching] at NYU film school when I’m 75. I’ll be the professor of rom-coms.”

Julia Roberts similarly shared earlier this year that she’s passed on rom-com scripts for the last two decades prior to signing onto the 2022 film “Ticket to Paradise” alongside George Clooney.

“People sometimes misconstrue the amount of time that’s gone by that I haven’t done a romantic comedy as my not wanting to do one,” Roberts told the New York Times Magazine. “If I had read something that I thought was that ‘Notting Hill’ level of writing or ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ level of madcap fun, I would do it. Here’s the thing: If I’d thought something was good enough, I would have done it.”

Back in February, IndieWire’s Kate Erbland shared four tips for how Hollywood could revive the rom-com, including palatable chemistry between the two leads. “Chemistry is the magic little crackle that gives us reason to root for their success. Without it, a rom-com isn’t worth a damn,” Erbland wrote. “Like horror films and action movies, the rom-com is a genre — and too often, that means it’s treated as a commodity. Build the rom-com, the logic seems to go, and they will come. As the box office likes to remind us, that’s not true. It’s ripe for another golden age.”