After her Oscar-nominated turn as rock groupie — sorry, "band aid" — Penny Lane in Almost Famous, Kate Hudson was extra choosy about her next film role. Why did she settle on the epic period drama The Four Feathers as her follow up?

"I could have gone after [Almost Famous] and done movies that were romantic comedy leads for girls," the blonde beauty admits. "But I want to do more sophisticated films. And if I want to do a romantic comedy, then it better be funny!

"I want to do movies that mean something to me," Hudson continues, "or that are just good, rather than go and do movies just to make me famous. I believe in what I do and I love what I do — and that's more important than being on MTV every day."

Thus, Hudson wasn't lured to Feathers merely by the chance to play Aussie hottie Heath Ledger's lover. In fact, she really wanted to work with helmer Shekhar Kapur, who directed Cate Blanchett in 1998's Elizabeth. "He's just an incredible director," the 23-year-old insists. "And when a director like that has faith in you playing a part in their movie, you just do it."

But for Goldie Hawn's fashion-conscious daughter, all those beautiful Victorian costumes — complete with sexy corsets — may also have swayed her decision. "I loved the clothes," she happily admits. "[Costume designer Ruth Myers] would come in with these outfits and you'd just go, 'Oh my god.' These things were incredibly made. It was really exciting to put them on. [Though] after you put them on for a while, you think... 'I'd like to take this off.'"