Kate Hudson is talking about family businesses. “People say, ‘Don’t get into business with your family’,” she says, laughing. “But there’s some crazy percentage – something like 80% or maybe even 86% – of people who do just that. And obviously that’s a long tradition that’s probably hundreds of years old, and I do think there’s something innate about wanting to go into the family business. A smile appears on the Hollywood actress’s face. “It can go horribly wrong, and be the worst decision you can possibly make. But if you get it right, it’s incredibly powerful, almost untouchable. The truth is, we’re almost built to be in a family business, you know?”

While the family she’s referring to is a fictional one – the Gordons, a hilariously dysfunctional bunch of basketball team managers in the Netflix sports comedy television series Running Point – she could every bit as easily be talking about the acting dynasty created by Goldie and her devoted partner Kurt Russell. Goldie and Kurt are, famously, the happiest unmarried A list couple in Hollywood. Between them they raised Kurt’s son Boston, Goldie’s two (Kate and Oliver Hudson, products of her earlier marriage to actor and musician Bill Hudson) and their own child Wyatt.

It was Kate who first won our attention, playing Penny Lane, a hippie-dippie groupie with a heart of gold in the 2000 hit Almost Famous. Her blonde hair and radiant smile are still intact 26 years later, most notably in her recent Oscar-nominated turn in film Song Sung Blue playing a singer in a Neil Diamond tribute band. The career-defining role has put her firmly back in the spotlight and now in Running Point she’s playing Isla Gordon, a Los Angeles party girl who suddenly finds herself the boss of her family’s (fictional) basketball team and fighting to hold her own in the notoriously competitive world of men’s sports.

Coming as she does from the let’s-all-put-on-a-show trouper spirit of the acting world, Kate says that the competitive nature of the sports world has come as something of a shock.

“The only thing you want to do in baseball is win!” she laughs, shaking her head. “Not every profession is like that, right? We can have slow years, we can have growth, we can make choices. But in sports, you’re in it to win it, and if you’re not, you’re in the wrong business. This is something new for me because in the industry I’m in – acting, storytelling – I’ve never felt competitive.

She explains: “To me, the arts is an impossible place to be competing against other people – you just have to work together and be focused on what you do. The place where I do see comparison with the two worlds, is the dysfunction, you know?

“High stakes, lots of money, people yelling at each other to get things moving, get things done. You can see that parallel, but definitely not the competitive side.”

As notorious as the sports world is for competition it is, if anything even more so for sexism; and Kate says that examining Isla’s work situation has caused her to think long and hard about what many women go through in their professional life.

“I think that we women in the workplace – we’re just getting there,” she says. “The reality is that women have only held high-powered positions anywhere for a very short time, if you think about it. Women in power, who are making big decisions that affect big industry, or large corporations, Hollywood, publishing houses, whatever, it’s still very new. How many years have we even been able to vote, after all?

“So for any woman, it takes a lot of courage and bravery to put yourself out there and risk rejection. I know a lot of women who will work in a place where they’re just as good as their colleague but because he might be male he might be the one to get the promotion. But the great thing to ask is, how do you speak up about this?”

Luckily for herself, she says, she had the advantage of having grown up with a number of strong and dynamic female role models. Ask her to name a couple, and she does not hesitate to dive in.

“We’ve got to start with Mummy!” she laughs. “I couldn’t have had a better role model than her. She is someone who has not only a divinely feminine power but also a strong masculine energy that fights the good fight and gets things done.

“She was incredibly ambitious in getting the movies made that she wanted to get made, and she was the first female producer who starred in her own movies.”

Hawn’s producing debut was the 1980 comedy Private Benjamin, which not only earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, but opened the door to the countless female-led projects that have followed since.

“And for me as her daughter, that could have been intimidating, but I’ve never felt that way because that was not how my Mum raised any of us,” smiles Kate. “She would be my first and ultimate role model, and of course she’s Number One. But I’ve had others – there have been women who have been incredible champions for me. You want more? I can give you more.”

She beams delightedly, clearly on a roll of happy memories.

“There was Lynda Obst,” she offers, remembering the late author and producer who guided her into the 2003 comedy How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, in which she co-starred with Matthew McConaughey, who is still a good friend.

“She brought me into the film – we really partnered on that. She empowered me at a very young age to make bold decisions and stand up for my ideas.

“And I had this amazing, amazing dance teacher who really pushed me and pushed me and made it so I understood what it is to be really dedicated to something – she was a great mentor to me. So I’ve had some great roles and mentors throughout the way, there are so many of them and I feel very lucky.”

It quickly becomes apparent that Kate feels lucky in many areas of her life. Happily partnered with musician Danny Fujikawa, they share a daughter, Rani, now seven, along with her two sons, Ryder, 22, son of Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson, and Bingham – “my 13-year-old, oh, God, he’s not 13 anymore, he’s almost 15!” – son of Muse lead vocalist Matt Bellamy.”

And yes, all three fathers get along excellently well with each other and with Kate.

“Everybody’s great,” she recently told me, just a hint of steel showing beneath the bubbly smile. “And we all have figured out how to put the ego or any other issues aside and make it all about the kids. I want to make sure all the kids know that their father and I are always together, we talk about things, we’re in agreement with each other. And I’m very lucky because I’ve got great Dads for my kids – lots of them!”

She’s pretty happy at work, too. “I love what I do!” she exclaims delightedly. “I love the process of it, and I love making people laugh. It’s like my Mum always said – when you sit in a theater and you hear people around you laughing… it’s like the kiss of God.”

She nods and sits back in satisfaction “That’s my Mum’s line,” she adds proudly. Looks like the role model is still modelling.