Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey in Fool's Gold Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Once you signed on, did you guys work through the script to reflect more of what you and Matthew bring to the table, or was it there from the get-go?
You know what? The script was specific enough and written well enough to where we didn't really have that kind of like, like we didn't need to. Whereas the last experience we had, which was just me basically going crazy — everything I was doing was like improv. But this movie was different because there were a lot of plot points. Certain things that Andy [Tennant] wrote it, and he directed it, so there's a lot that he held precious. So not a lot of improv. But it's hard to script physicality.

You character is kind of the straight person (but has her moments) and gets to jump into the action as well. Is that what attracted you to the role?
Yeah. She's not really a smiley character, which I loved. She's not a joyous character. So I loved that, that was different. I get a lot of scripts from people where I'm the happy smiley girl. My next role is not like that either, which I'm excited about.

What is that?
Bride Wars, with Anne Hathaway and myself. We're going to be duking it out, with wedding dresses on. So basically, by circumstance, we both end up having our wedding dates fall on the same day, and we think we can deal with it, and it slowly becomes like a War of the Roses.

Does your character get dark?
She's not dark, she's just super selfish and tough. She's just very self-centered. She's definitely not a smiley girl, Anne's more the smiley girl in this movie. So it's fun. On Fool's Gold, it was also nice to be sporty. I grew up with a bunch of boys, so it made sense to me that I would do stuff like that, that I would be somebody who was adventuresome. And I've never been in an adventure movie, so I really was doing a lot of things I hadn't done.

Did you do your own stunts?
I did a lot, oh yeah. There were a couple that I didn't do. The underwater stuff? That was all me. I had to do a lot of underwater stuff in the pool, holding my breath to expand my lungs because I had to be sure that I could make it from — it looks way smaller on camera — but I'm going a good few yards underwater. When you're working in water like that, it's kinda scary. You've got to definitely pay attention. You just have to make sure you're totally sharp.

Andy Tennant hasn't really done anything on this scale, either — did you notice a learning curve with him at all?
Yeah. You know, what I liked about it was that, with everything we wanted to do, he didn't want it to be unrealistic. So I enjoyed the fact that the movie wasn't all of a sudden like cars and things blowing up; it felt real even though, in a way, it's kind of just ridiculous. It's, like, I'm in a plane and Matthew's hanging on the side of this plane — but the way Andy took his time with the film allowed you to feel like it was more believable. Andy is a very specific guy. He knows what he likes, he knows what he wants, and he likes you to be a part of what he's interested in and what he wants to create. And I like people who are steadfast in what they believe. And I'm a facilitator, you know? I show up and what you want is hopefully what you get and if not, [laughs] sorry I let you down!