Kate Hudson Won’t Get Steven Spielberg’s Oscars Vote Despite His Bond With Goldie Hawn (Exclusive)

Steven Spielberg and Goldie Hawn have a rock solid friendship that dates back over half a century, but it’s being put to the test this awards season.

The director, 79, is said to be campaigning for Jessie Buckley to win the Best Actress Oscar for Hamnet, a film he produced, a source tells Closer. However, she will be going up against Kate Hudson, who is nominated in the same category for Song Sung Blue.

Spielberg has “a ton of love in his heart” for Goldie, 80, going back to their 1974 film collaboration The Sugarland Express, says the source. Same goes for Kate, 46, who got her big break in Almost Famous, a movie produced by his studio, DreamWorks Pictures.

“He has known and supported these two women forever and he would do almost anything for them,” notes the source, but when it comes to this year’s Oscars race, “Steven has sent the message loud and clear that his loyalties are ultimately with Jessie.”

Her performance in the historical drama has already earned her the Best Actress trophy at the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the London Film Critics’ Circle.

“If [Kate] pulls off the upset of the century and somehow beats Jessie … Steven will be shocked but not disappointed,” says the source. “Kate has gone further with this part than almost anybody thought she could, and Steven will be right there to celebrate with her.”

Still, the source admits, “it has got to be agony for Goldie and Kate to know that when the final ballots come in, [she] will have not gotten a vote from Steven, who has been so important in her life and career for so many years.”