Kate Hudson is determined to prove her critics wrong. She has married reformed bad-boy rock musician Chris Robinson, ignoring doubts about his past, and is forging ahead with a film career despite accusations that she’s been helped by her famous mother Goldie Hawn.

Twenty-one-year-old Kate, who has already won a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress for Almost Famous and is in the first flush of her New Year’s Eve marriage to Chris, insists: “I am doing things my own way. If I listened to all the critics about the way I live my life or conduct my career, I would never get started. The only thing I can do is live my life the way I want to live it. I can make fun of myself and I can take a beating. And when I hear people express their opinion about how I got a job, I just hope that what they will eventually see onscreen will change their minds.”

Despite winning starring roles at such an early age, Kate is quick to point out that the only help she’s had with her career from Goldie, 55, and her mother’s equally famous partner Kurt Russell, 49, is being able to observe how they have behaved while living in Hollywood’s goldfish bowl.

“She has always been there for me,” says Kate of her mother. “The single most frustrating thing about fame, when you are a child, is sitting opposite your mother in a restaurant and having people come up. You might be in the middle of something really important and then Mom is suddenly asked for an autograph. Some people can be rude and intrusive at times, but watching Mom deal with it was a lesson for life. She was always polite and warm.”

For more on the Kate Hudson phenomenon, pick up the latest copy of HELLO!, on sale now.