Kate Hudson would ''never define'' herself through the eyes of a man.

The 'Fool's Gold' actress - who has Ryder, 16, with ex-husband Chris Robinson, Bingham, eight, with former fiance Matt Bellamy, and 18-month-old Rani with her boyfriend Danny Fujikawa - credits her mother, Goldie Hawn, for her outlook on life and relationships.

She said: ''Mom always said to me, 'Don't you ever let a man dim your light.' So I've never defined myself through the way a man sees me, but I can define myself in the unit that we can create together. That is what Mom gave to me.''

Goldie added in a joint interview for People's Most Beautiful issue: ''When you have your children and you have a man who loves your children, that's a very tough bond.''

And Kate, who appears on the cover of the publication with her mother and daughter, admitted the 'Death Becomes Her' star's 37-year relationship with Kurt Russell has been a huge inspiration to her.

She said: ''To live up to that is really the goal. Just the fact that they've been able to maintain a unit for all of us, in times of turmoil, they really are the centre of all of our lives.''

The 41-year-old actress hopes she can inspire the same confidence in her daughter that Goldie, 74, did in her.

She said: ''My mom gave me the floor to be able to feel confident enough to go out and feel like my life could be my own.

''Mom was my greatest cheerleader. And it just made me think about Rani...going, 'I hope I give her that kind of confidence,' you know?''

Goldie admitted it was a ''big deal'' when she became grandparent to Rani.

She said: ''When your daughter has a daughter, it's a big deal. I mean, it really is.''