Why Kate Hudson Could Be the Oscar Comeback Story of the Year With Song Sung Blue

There are performances that confirm what we already believe about an actor. And then there are the rare ones that quietly rearrange the narrative – the kind that make audiences sit up and say, oh, she’s operating on another level now.

Kate Hudson’s performance as Claire “Thunder” Sardina in Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue belongs firmly in that second category. Critics leaving the film’s world premiere at AFI Fest, where it closed the festival, spoke about her turn in terms usually reserved for career peaks and coronations.

What began as a nostalgic-sounding musical biopic about a Neil Diamond tribute band has suddenly become something else entirely: the platform for one of the most compelling Oscar comeback arcs of the year.

From Almost Famous to almost forgotten – then back again

Hudson has, of course, been here before. At 21, she became Hollywood’s golden child with Almost Famous, winning a Golden Globe and earning her first Oscar nomination. Then came two decades of romantic comedies, ensemble pieces and lighter fare – commercially successful, but rarely the kind of roles awards bodies rally around.

She never disappeared, but the conversation shifted. Hudson was seen as charismatic, fun, bankable – not necessarily as one of the era’s great dramatic actors. That’s what Song Sung Blue is now challenging.

The role: Claire “Thunder” Sardina, born in sequins and scar tissue

Based on Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the same name, Brewer’s film tells the true story of Mike and Claire Sardina, a Milwaukee couple who make a living as the Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder.

Hugh Jackman plays Mike, a Vietnam veteran and recovering alcoholic; Hudson plays Claire, a hairdresser and mother who survives a devastating car accident and hauls herself back onto the stage in sequins and stilettos.

It’s a part loaded with contradiction:

• Claire is both sparkly and scarred, a woman who sings stadium anthems at county fairs.

• She’s the emotional engine of the band and also painfully aware of how fragile it all is.

• She’s chasing joy in other people’s songs while nursing a lifetime of private losses.

Hudson leans into those tensions, giving a performance that critics have called “genuinely tremendous,” “career-best” and the film’s “secret weapon.”

Why the industry is talking about a Kate Hudson Oscar run

1. The performance feels revelatory

Variety’s awards analysis describes Hudson’s Thunder as a “revelatory piece of acting”, noting that the role doesn’t just play to her strengths – it exposes new ones.

On stage, she channels full-throttle showmanship; off stage, she plays Claire with a looseness and lived-in ache that recalls the vulnerability of Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line or Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby – touchstones the early pieces have explicitly referenced.

Critics who are lukewarm on elements of the film itself almost universally single her out as the high note.

2. The narrative: a bona fide comeback

Awards bodies love a story, and Hudson’s is clean and compelling:

• Former ingénue and one-time Oscar nominee

• Years of being typecast in glossy romcoms

• A mid-career pivot that demands to be taken seriously again

Pieces in IMDB News, Variety and awards blogs have already positioned her as this season’s “comeback” candidate, noting how Song Sung Blue reframes her as a serious musical and dramatic actor rather than just a charming presence.

3. The campaign: momentum and visibility

Hudson and Jackman have thrown themselves into the film’s rollout:

• A concert-style showcase of songs from the film at Radio City Music Hall in October

• Festival appearances at AFI Fest and Savannah, where she and Jackman received a Gotham Musical Tribute Award for their work in the film

• A steady stream of interviews, from People to USA Today, where Hudson speaks with disarming sincerity about Claire, Neil Diamond and why the role feels like the “culmination” of her musical and acting life so far.

In an era where Oscar attention often goes to the noisiest or most prestige-coded projects, Song Sung Blue is emerging as a crowd-pleasing dark horse – exactly the kind of film that can sneak into voters’ hearts over the holidays.

The work behind the glitter

Part of what makes this performance feel different is how un-sly it is. Hudson isn’t winking at us from behind Claire’s big hair and sequins; she’s fully submerged.

She spent extensive time with the real Claire Sardina and with Neil Diamond himself, sharing porch stories and digging through old photos to understand the emotional weight behind the tribute act.

On screen, that research shows:

• The way she holds a mic like a lifeline rather than a prop

• The flash of panic that crosses her face when a show starts to go sideways

• The way grief and joy coexist in her performance of “Sweet Caroline,” as if every sing-along might be the last

It’s the kind of detailed, actorly work that rewards repeat viewings – exactly what awards-season screeners are made for.

Will the Academy bite?

We’re still early in the season, and Best Actress is once again shaping up to be fiercely competitive. But Hudson has several things in her favour:

• A performance that plays equally well to critics and mainstream audiences

• A strong emotional narrative around second chances and mid-career reinvention

• Visible support from her co-star Jackman, director Brewer and Neil Diamond himself, who has publicly praised the film despite being unable to attend the premiere due to Parkinson’s disease.

Whether or not her name ends up in that final five, one thing already feels clear: Kate Hudson is back in the serious-conversation column, and Song Sung Blue has reminded the industry – and the public – that there is far more to her than the breezy charm we thought we knew.

In a year crowded with high-concept dramas and prestige biopics, her Claire “Thunder” Sardina may well be the awards-season story that feels the most human: a woman who has been knocked down, roughed up, laughed at, and still walks onstage in sequins, ready to belt out one more song.