Kate Hudson Recalls the ‘Personalities’ and ‘Talent’ on ‘Glee’: It Was a ‘Very Dramatic Set’

Kate Hudson had one clear takeaway from her brief time on Glee.

“It was a very dramatic set,” Hudson, 45, recalled during the Monday, April 22, episode of the “Sibling Reverly” podcast while talking with Glee star Jenna Ushkowitz. “Well, you know, when you’ve got all of those personalities and all that talent, and all that youth.”

Ushkowitz, 37, agreed with Hudson’s take but noted that she thought the dramatic nature stemmed from the cast’s close bond.

“I will be honest, like, we were all very close. Yes, we all have our squabbles … but we really were a family and it was easier to get along than it wasn’t,” Ushkowitz said. “As dramatic as it was — it’s so interesting to hear you say that, Kate — there's so many moving parts of our show and so many cast members and so many personalities.”

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Hudson added, “And the show was so huge, so you’re this young little family and then of course inside of it, you’re gonna have all the stuff that comes with it.”

While noting that “talented people can be sometimes challenging people to work with,” Hudson said, “You get all of that in one room, and there’s gonna be some fun drama.”

Hudson had a role as recurring character Cassandra July on Glee from 2012 to 2013. The hit musical series ultimately came to an end in 2015 after a six-year run.

The show followed members of William McKinley High School’s glee club, centering around director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) and students, including Tina Cohen-Chang (Ushkowitz), Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith).

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While Glee has since gone off the air, Ushkowitz and costar Kevin McHale (who played Artie Abrams), have shared behind-the-scenes insight into the series on their “And That’s What You REALLY Missed” podcast.

In December 2023, McHale, 35, revealed he started a rumor about Michele, 37, and Monteith dating before the stars actually confessed they were.

“Ratings had started to dip a little,” McHale explained during an episode at the time, where he and Ushkowitz recalled shooting the season 3 Christmas episode. “We had enjoyed two very solid years of success and really great ratings, and it was the first time they had started to go down in a significant way.”

McHale recalled that Michele was on board with the idea to stage her romance with Monteith. “I was like, ‘I’m sitting across the room. What if I pretend to take a picture of Jenna and in the background, the very edge of frame, are Cory and Lea being a little extra snuggly?'” he said. “I said, ‘I’ll put it up and wait a little bit for people to notice, and then I’ll delete it, like I did something wrong.’ Because the intention was we were gonna get rumors started that Cory and Lea are dating, and people will watch the show.”

Michele later told McHale that she and Monteith were in fact dating. The pair were together from late 2011 until his death at age 31 in July 2013 after an accidental drug overdose.