Julia Stiles has revealed she sought permission from Michelle Williams before paying tribute to her late co-star Heath Ledger on Dancing With the Stars.
The 45-year-old actress starred alongside Ledger – who died in January 2008 – in the 1999 romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.
Stiles reached out to Williams, who dated Ledger between 2004 and 2007 and had one child together, prior to performing the routine.
Speaking to Extra, Stiles stated: "I did ask Michelle if this was OK."
Several of her former co-stars watched the performance, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, Larisa Oleynik, Susan May Pratt and Andrew Keegan, along with the film's two female writers.
Stiles said: "I called Joey and Larisa [first] and then Susan and Keegan and everybody, and also the two female writers of 10 Things were here tonight. I reached out to them.
"The web got cast and everybody kinda said, ‘I’ll do it if everybody else does it.’ And that was it!"
Stiles previously reflected on being told she was "too serious" as a young performer. Having started acting at age 11 with New York's La MaMa Theatre Company, she experienced major success around the turn of the century.
In an Instagram video, Stiles said: "I remember being an auditioning actress as a teenager, and every single audition that I went to, they'd be like, 'You need to smile more. Just smile, be more bubbly and effervescent. Because you're so serious. You're too serious'.
"And that just made me angry, but luckily I found the role of Kat Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You."
Stiles secured the role of Kat Stratford ahead of actors such as Eliza Dushku and Katie Holmes, with the film marking a major career milestone.
She said: "It was just so much fun playing her because she wasn't driven by everybody else's judgement of her. How awesome that, like 25 years later, different generations of ladies are still responding to her and that movie?"
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