‘People thought it was real’
Kurt Russell is wanting again at his iconic near-proposal to longtime accomplice Goldie Hawn on the 1989 Oscars.
The madison star tells Entertainment Weekly that he and Hawn got here up with their legendary bit — which Russell noticed virtually proposes to the actress stay on nationwide tv — whereas they had been showering collectively whereas preparing for the ceremony.
“We had the routine that we were given to do and it was terrible. So we said, ‘Well, we got to do something else,'” Russell explains. “We were taking a shower together, getting ready to go to the Academy Awards and being in front of a billion and a half people, and I said, ‘This [routine] it’s awful. We got to do something.’”
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn attend the 61st Annual Academy Awards in 1989.
Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection by way of Getty
So, they scrapped the unique plan and began brainstorming. “Goldie and I worked that routine out in the shower and we just didn’t tell anybody and we just went on,” Russell remembers. “Here came the prompters up with the stuff, and we didn’t bother looking at it. We just did our thing.”
While presenting the award for Best Directing on the occasion, Hawn started by telling Russell that they “fit completely to the theme of the show” as a result of “we’re costars, we’re compadres, we’re companions, and we’re a couple!”
“Yeah, there’s only one thing we’re not… married,” Russell mentioned. Hawn, in response, burst right into a match of nervous giggles earlier than asking, “Is that a proposal?”
A laughing Russell took a step again from the rostrum because the room stuffed with loud cheers and applause over their potential engagement. “You’re putting me on the spot! I guess now’s a good time as anyone to answer that,” he started, earlier than his consideration was seemingly amused backstage. “Oh, they want us to speed things up. Listen, we’ll talk about it later tonight, okay?”
As Russell launched right into a spiel about directing, Hawn appeared visibly shocked by the segue earlier than laughing and telling him, “We will talk about that later.”
To at the present time, Russell nonetheless seems stunned by how many individuals genuinely believed that he was actually going to pop the query onstage.
“People thought it was real! That was the weird part.… I thought it was a testament to our abilities,” he jokes. “There’s a tape that has the ’50 Greatest Moments in Academy Award Presentations’ or something, and it’s one of those.”
He continues, “And it’s still looked at like something that was real. It was completely made up. Goldie and I worked it out in the shower 20 minutes before we left to go to the Academy Awards.”
There had been, nonetheless, some individuals who knew that the couple had been bluffing: their households. “They all knew we were just goofing,” he says. “I mean, if you look at it again, you can see that we’re goofing.”
Still, he lightheartedly admits, “When Goldie looks at the audience…it was a little too real, I guess.”
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn attend the 61st Annual Academy Awards in 1989.
Credit: Barry King/WireImage
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It won’t be a proposal, however Russell and Hawn have loads to have fun when it involves this yr’s Oscars. Hawn’s daughter Kate Hudsonwhom Russell helped increase, is nominated for Best Actress for her efficiency within the Neil-Diamond-infused movie, Song Sung Blue.
This is Hudson’s second nomination, having beforehand been within the working for Best Supporting Actress for her function as Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s love letter to music journalism, Almost Famous.
The 2026 Oscars air Sunday at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT on ABC.
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