Kate Hudson Passed on Playing Mary Jane in Spider-Man — Here’s Why

Here is a fun rewind: Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man almost had a very different face. Kate Hudson says she was up for the role and turned it down. Yes, really.

The almost-MJ

On Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Hudson confirmed she passed on playing Mary Jane in Spider-Man and chose The Four Feathers instead, where she starred opposite Heath Ledger. That job, she says, changed her life in ways a superhero movie would not have: she met Ledger, who became a close friend, and got an experience she would not trade.

"Life happens exactly the way it is supposed to... but it would have been fun to be [Mary Jane]."

For anyone keeping track, Spider-Man went on to blow up at the box office and spawn two sequels with Kirsten Dunst as MJ and Tobey Maguire as Peter. Hudson is not salty about any of it. She basically said it never feels great to rehash the roles you did not take because the people who ended up in those movies were the right fit, and your life unfolds the way it unfolds.

What she is doing next

Hudson is back on the musical beat soon with Song Sung Blue, co-starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Craig Brewer. It is a musical biopic based on a true story about two lonely, middle-aged musicians who team up to form Lightning and Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute act. It hits theaters on December 25.

This one has flown under the radar, but our reviewer Chris Bumbray had a good time with it: not a movie for cynics, a little over-the-top by the end, but for most of its runtime a toe-tapping, tearjerker-y crowd-pleaser that just wants to send you out smiling.

Could you see Kate Hudson as Mary Jane, or is Kirsten Dunst too locked in your brain to unsee?