Kate Hudson co-stars with Naomi Watts in Le Divorce. Here she tells iVillage about the film, her fear of heights, and working with Merchant and Ivory.

How did you find going to Paris and shooting Le Divorce?
For me, my experience of Paris was probably the most exciting I've had so far in my life. I felt as if I was in the centre of everything. Except for a few sexual escapades I had, I was experiencing Paris in parallel with my character. I was enjoying and being as wide-eyed and full of wonder in real life as I was doing in the film. Paris was incredible. Everything about it - from spending hours eating, drinking and talking, to walking through the streets.

When was your first visit to Paris?
I don't remember my first time in Paris. My mother was quite a single mum, and everywhere she went, she just packed up her two kids and took them wherever she was going. So I was travelling with her all the time. I do remember being a little girl, but my only memory of being that age - I must have been five years old - was looking at all these clothes and fabrics. She bought this big blue dress. I just remembered that!

Was your mother [Goldie Hawn] living in France at the time?
My mother was dating this Frenchman. I was two years old, and we were living in Ibiza. I remember the way he was with his daughter, and it was so beautiful. It was cultural. The way he'd brush her hair, the way he'd speak to her in French. It was quite beautiful. He'd take us to fig trees in Ibiza. I was very little. I never experienced details like that in America.

So it was very different to the US, then?
Yeah, people are running around naked, not afraid to show their bodies. I think America is very different. I remember running around in Ibiza as a little girl, not being fazed by all these naked people, or people smoking and drinking. Nobody stopped to think about the fact that there was a child in the room, when they were having a cigarette. It was just the way it was. To me, that's the way it should be. People should do what they do. If you don't like it, you don't have to be there. It's a very different attitude in Europe to the States.

Apart from Paris, what was the chief attraction of making the film?
Really, the reason I came to do this film was to work with James [Ivory, director] and Ismail [Merchant, producer], and be a part of their body of work. To be able to say that I could be a little sliver in their world.

Apparently, you were scared of going up the Eiffel Tower to shoot the film's finale?
Yeah. I took a little thing for vertigo, an anti-anxiety drug. My knees buckled, my head started spinning. It's funny, because I'm not afraid of heights - I rock-climb! It was about being in a very small space. It was very bizarre. I went into a cold sweat. It was the first time I realised what vertigo was like. It was scary.

How did you find creating a sisterly bond with your co-star Naomi Watts?
It was very easy. We were two girls who really liked each other. I started working three weeks before Naomi came. When she showed up, I was really excited to have a girl with me. Usually, I work with guys! Naomi's a very hard worker, and very interested in the character. I am, too. I think that, when you're doing a picture, you know it's important for the role, and for the characters, and for the story, to be able to tell that story. And part of that is that these two women are very close, and in each other's lives at times.

Your character is an American who goes to Paris - but do you see the trend in reverse, too?
I think there are a lot of European people, and Latin and African people, who come to America in search of the American Dream - to be able to make money, to send money home to their families, to really prosper at something. And I think there are people who do fall in love with what our ideals are. The American Dream is a romantic notion, but it's newer - not as pretty. You go to Europe, and it says something about the type of person you are. You're in search of something more intimate, more about yourself.

And now you're pregnant?
I'm twenty pounds bigger already, and my feet just swelled up today! Fortunately, I'm loving every second of it. What makes you feel beautiful is that you're creating something.

Will you raise your child in L.A.?
We're always talking about where we want to raise our children. We know it's not Los Angeles - not that I have anything against it, but it's too much in the midst of everything. It would be nice to be able to have our kids come in for doses of it, though. Next time you see me here, there'll be children. I'll be like my mother. My mother took us everywhere. They treated us like people, like human beings. Right now, there's this style of parenting that I experienced with my generation, which was not to embarrass your children. They run the house! I grew up in a house where I got spanked every once in a while. I was disciplined. At the same time, I was completely free to be my own person, and to dress in my own clothes, and to be naked, if I wanted to. My parents were very open about sex. We didn't really hide much in our family. I think I'll probably be very similar.

Le Divorce is released on 19 September 2003