Gwyneth Paltrow Presents Kate Hudson with Arlington Artist Award at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2026

Kate Hudson receives a coveted award at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival!

The Almost Famous star and her long-time friend Gwyneth Paltrow posed for photos on the red carpet at The Arlington Theatre on Friday (February 13) in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Kate was honored that night with the Arlington Artist of the Year Award, presented to her by Gwyneth, who referred to her as “kind of like a little sister to me” in a touching speech, per The Hollywood Reporter.

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Kate also sat down for an onstage conversation with THR columnist Scott Feinberg.

During their chat, she talked about her desire to do “something different” after years of romantic comedies.

Kate continued, “I think when you become really famous doing that genre, it’s hard for certain filmmakers to see you in anything other than what we’re watching. These sort of things that like, ‘Well, transforming isn’t what she does’ when, in fact, it’s what I love to do.”

Having recently secured her second Academy Award nomination for Song Sung Blue, the two-time nominee is now looking toward the future and the next phase of her career.

“It doesn’t mean to me that all of a sudden I just want to be doing this for the concept of the accolades; I want to do it to put people in the theater too,” she said. “This feels like the beginning of maybe that part where I get to do a little bit more transformations than maybe I’ve been able to do in the past.”

Kate also received a special honor at the 2026 Costume Designers Guild Awards and wore a stunning outfit to the event! See all the photos and coverage here.

FYI: Kate wore a custom Louis Vuitton dress and jewelry by Sabyasachi. Gwyneth was wearing Prada, Christian Louboutin shoes, and Hearts on Fire jewelry.