Kate Hudson has confirmed she once turned down the role of Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man, a decision that still stings to revisit more than two decades later. Speaking on the Dec. 22 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Hudson said the offer was real, then admitted, “When people say these things, it doesn’t feel good to talk about it,” because the part landed with “the right people.”
Hudson said she can see the appeal in hindsight. “That would’ve been nice to be in a Spider-Man movie,” she told Cohen, before stressing she does not second-guess the casting that followed. Hudson added that she sometimes watches the film and thinks it “would’ve been fun” to play the character.
The role went to Kirsten Dunst, who played Mary Jane opposite Tobey Maguire across Raimi’s trilogy. The first film launched as a defining early-2000s blockbuster, opening to $114.8 million domestically and finishing with about $810.9 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
Hudson framed her choice as a fork in the road that brought different rewards. She said she opted to make The Four Feathers instead, where she met Heath Ledger and formed a close friendship. That experience, she said, helped her make peace with passing on a studio tentpole that became a pop-culture touchstone.
The “what if” still follows the franchise. Dunst has said she would return if asked, telling People in 2021, “I would do it. Why not? That would be fun.” In 2024, she added in another interview that she would have participated in Spider-Man: No Way Home if anyone had reached out.
Hudson, meanwhile, is promoting Song Sung Blue, due in theaters on Christmas Day, with co-star Hugh Jackman recently praising her work on the film during an awards-season appearance.
