'Running Point': Kate Hudson Says Jeanie Buss Was 'So Cool' & Open (Exclusive)

Kate Hudson, Brenda Song and Mindy Kaling sat down with “Extra’s” Melvin Robert to talk “Running Point.” In the new series, which executive produced and co-written by Mindy, Kate plays a reformed party girl who must prove herself as a businesswoman when she’s unexpectedly put in charge of her family’s pro basketball team.

The story is loosely based on the life and career of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and her family. Kate revealed she’s known Jeanie since she was 14 years old, sharing, “When I knew that this was loosely based on her experience as the first female basketball owner and what that family dynamic is and how crazy that is I was like what a dream and what an honor.”

Kate said of their conversations about “Running Point,” “Jeanie was so cool and she really was open.” 

Kaling called Jeanie the “heart of the show” and explained how the project got off the ground, saying, “She approached me like five years ago… [because] she loved ‘The Office,’ so she is someone who has a very serious job but doesn’t take herself seriously… she could have said, ‘I want the show to be a drama and I want my character to be like hugely important and everyone admires them’ but she's like, ‘No, I want it to be funny.’”

Kaling added that the show will explore how Buss is “glamourous and gorgeous and she was single for a long time” while being “president of a team,” dishing it “makes it so fun for our writers.”

Brenda, whose character is based on Linda Rambis, gushed about working on the show, saying, “Just to be working with people that you admire so much like sometimes I can't believe I get to sit in a room with these ladies. These are women that I respect, that I admire and to be able to collaborate with them and to be able to look over and ask for advice is something that as an actor, as a woman, as a mom is just so precious. I'm so grateful.”