Kate Hudson reminded her fans that she once had as small role in the Macaulay Culkin–starring Christmas classic Home Alone 2 this week — and she still gets paid for it.
While appearing on her Sibling Revelry podcast on Monday, the 44-year-old actress shared with her brother and co-host Oliver Hudson that she still gets minuscule checks for the film worth just fractions of a dollar.
She was reminiscing about her career’s earliest days with fellow former child actor Joey Lawrence, 47, who was accompanied by his brothers Matthew and Andy.
Kate — who recently launched her music career amid a slowdown in her acting work — was inspired to share her own story after Joey recalled how he was tested as a five-year-old when he had to memorize a lengthy speech for a commercial audition.
He pulled it off perfectly and scored a Cracker Jack commercial, which led to 50 more commercials that aired across the US within just a year.
The story inspired Kate to ask Joey if he still receives royalties from any of his early commercials.
She then shared that she is still making money off one of her earliest roles, though it would probably take several years for her to afford a single candy bar from the checks.
‘I still get residuals from Home Alone 2 because I sang in the chorus,’ she shared, via People.
‘I’m in that chorus, and then I get 10 cents every once in a while,’ she added, referring to a musical scene in the film in which it’s difficult to pick her out from the crowd of other children and teens.
Joey admitted he gets even less for his early work, leading him to wonder if the studio was wasting money just by sending him the check.
‘Sometimes I’ll get, like, two cents and I’m like, “Wait. Doesn’t the envelope and paper cost more?”‘ he joked.
Kate looked on the bright side, replying: ‘At least they’re being fair and honest.’
Her role was so small that she isn’t credited for the film, while her first credited role is a 1996 appearance on Party Of Five, according to IMDb.
Her first major film role was in 1998’s Desert Blue (which costarred a young Casey Affleck), but she didn’t become a star until 2000’s Almost Famous.
She played an enigmatic groupie following a rock band destined to miss out on the big time, and her face was prominently plastered on the film’s poster and advertising.
The news that Kate had had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role in Home Alone 2 wasn’t news to Kate’s brother Oliver, who was intimately aware of her career, though the Lawrence brothers said they would be on the lookout for her when they rewatched the holiday comedy.
Although Kate has had the more prominent acting career with several popular films under her belt, her brother has also had a successful acting career for decades.
Despite being older than her, his first major roles came in the late 1990s, after she had already started appearing in films and television shows.
He’s best known for being part of the principal cast on the CBS sitcom Rules Of Engagement, which aired from 2007 to 2013, and he also appeared on multiple seasons of Nashville.
More recently, he had a prominent role on the first two seasons of the Fox crime series The Cleaning Lady.
His sister Kate recently shared that she is stepping back from her acting career to focus on another passion, music.
Late last month, she released her debut single Talk About Love, which she co-wrote with Linda Perry and her fiancé, Danny Fujikawa.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
