Kate Hudson has said her parenting style is that honesty is the best policy, and she doesn't stress too much about knowing the answer to everything.

The actress stars in Zach Braff's latest film Wish I Was Here as his character's wife, with the couple struggling to explain to their children that their grandfather is dying and what will happen to him after he is gone.

Kate said she hadn't had any similarly difficult conversations in her own family yet: "My philosophy on raising children is I don't think you need to know everything, I think eventually your children become parents themselves and look at you and go, 'Oh, you were just doing the best you can, oh, I get it.'

"For me I think honesty is the best thing for your kids. I just try to stick with the truth and make sure it's not too truthful sometimes because they might not be ready for it. That's it, that means be honest about my mistakes as well."

The film also sees Kate's character Sarah struggle with her children's strong Jewish faith as she isn't sure what she believes herself.

Kate added: "I grew up very spiritual, but I didn't grow up very religious. Our family is more of a family that's not necessarily about a particular thing that we're praying towards, but it's more about energy and spirit and that's what I'm passing on."

She continued that there was a lot to relate to in the film: "One of the things I loved about the script was how much I related to the themes - I think most people will.

"It draws on all the things in life that are inevitable - the death of a parent, what it is to be a parent, what it is to look at your life if you haven't accomplished the things you set out to accomplish, how do you move away from the construct of what you've created and try to create something different, the fear of making the wrong choices, relationships and how complicated they can become when life, reality is happening."

Wish I Was Here is in cinemas now.