Kate Hudson and Mindy Kaling 'bonded' after slight by male A-lister

Kate Hudson and Mindy Kaling 'bonded' after slight by male A-lister
Source: USA Today

One Hollywood A-lister failed to score any points with Kate Hudson and Mindy Kaling.

The pair remember in an interview for the new season of Netflix's "Running Point" waiting in line at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party for the magazine's famed portrait studio.

"An A-list, male celebrity cut us in line for the portraits," series co-creator Kaling says. "He big-timed us."
"We don't really see him as A-list anymore," added star Hudson, 47.

Kaling, 46, agrees. "I didn't know Kate that well. I'd met her at, like, a Christmas party at Reese Witherspoon's," the Emmy-nominated writer/producer adds, before acknowledging her weighty name drops. "We hadn't really chatted. But I remember thinking, 'I'm so annoyed,' and I just looked at her, and I was like, 'I'm just going to go and talk to her about it.' "

Hudson declared the move "not cool," and Kaling knew, "OK, I like her."

"The best part about that moment was that the person realized they were cutting in front of two women, who had been waiting there, and realized that it was the wrong thing to do but did it anyway," Hudson shares. "That was where we were like, 'Wow.' ... And we bonded over that."
"And that pettiness has inspired a series, called 'Running Point,' " Kaling jokes, "and we are here to talk about the second season."

Yes, Netflix has 10 new episodes, out April 23. A refresher on the February 2025 finale: Isla (Hudson), president of the Los Angeles Waves basketball team, split with her perfect-on-paper fiancé Lev (Max Greenfield). She also shared a kiss with her crush Jay (Jay Ellis), the team's former coach, now headed to Boston to be closer to his kids.

Isla's b-ball acumen led the team to the playoffs. But they lost in Game 7, fueling Isla's hunger for a championship in Season 2. Isla also must deal with the return of her brother Cam (Justin Theroux), former team president, and find a new coach.

Edits on the upcoming season coincided with Oscar nominations announced in January. Hudson earned a nod (her second) for her role in "Song Sung Blue," inspired by a real-life Neil Diamond tribute band.

"I don't think enough people know that the day that she was nominated for an Oscar, that morning, she had to come in to edit this show, because she's an executive producer," Kaling says.

"Dave Stassen, our showrunner was like, 'She's obviously not going to come in this morning, as she shouldn't. She should be drinking Bellinis and (talking) to press and everything.' And she showed up at, like, 8:30 in the morning and edited.
"She's a real producer, she's a real storyteller, and we just feel so lucky to have her."