Goldie Hawn knows that good things come to those who wait... until they're out of high school.

Speaking on May 29 during a screening of her 1974 film The Sugarland Express in Los Angeles, the 79-year-old Hawn looked back on raising her three kids -- Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, and Wyatt Russell -- in Hollywood. Though casting directors and agents expressed interest in working with Kate when she was still a teenager, Hawn recalls putting a stop to that.

"I didn't call an agent and ask them to be represented. I never did that," said Hawn, who was just 23 when she burst onto the comedy scene with NBC's variety show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. "In fact, they wanted Katie for some show, and she was still in high school. And I didn't let her do it because I didn't want her at that age, I wanted her to live a normal life, finish school, at which point you figure that out, but don't start too soon."

Though she may have missed out on that role, Hudson had no trouble launching her own career once she graduated high school. She began working steadily in film starting in 1998 with Desert Blue, followed by teen comedy 200 Cigarettes in 1999. She then landed the role as Patrick Fugit's older sister in the 2000 dramedy Almost Famous, but then convinced director Cameron Crowe to let her try out for a larger role -- as whimsical groupie Penny Lane -- when his first choice, Sarah Polley, turned him down. She nailed her audition, and the role subsequently launched her into movie stardom.

"I couldn't have asked for a better coming-out party," Hudson told Entertainment Weekly at the time.

Hawn, who shares her children with longtime love Kurt Russell, praised her children for making their own way in the entertainment industry, despite being raised by two very famous people.

"They don't want advice from their parents. Who does?" she said. "They're doing it on their own."