Kate Hudson addressed the backlash from the autism community over her new movie Music.
In the new film, which was written and directed by music superstar Sia, Dance Moms alum Maddie Ziegler portrays the titular character. Music is autistic and non-verbal, and many people were upset that Sia cast a neurotypical actress to play such a role. In November, the “Chandelier” singer claimed that she attempted to hire a person with autism for the part, but that the actress found the role “unpleasant” and “stressful.” However, autistic actors on Twitter accused her of not looking hard enough before casting Maddie, who Sia has worked with in several of her music videos.
Speaking to the host on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hudson—who portrays the character Zu, Music’s older sister and guardian in the musical drama—shared that she believes there is value in having a dialogue around representation in media.
The Almost Famous actress explained, “I think when people see the film, that they will see the amount of love and sensitivity that was put into it. But it is an important conversation to have, not just about this movie, but as a whole, about representation.”