Julia Stiles reunited with her former co-stars from 10 Things I Hate About You to pay an emotional tribute to Heath Ledger on Dancing with the Stars.
Stiles, 45, performed a contemporary dance with professional partner Ezra Sosa during the US reality competition’s Dedication Night on Tuesday. Their routine, set to Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, paid tribute to Ledger, who died aged 28 in 2008 from an accidental prescription drug overdose.
10 Things I Hate About You, directed by Gil Junger and released in 1999, is a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The film stars Stiles as Kat Stratford, an outspoken teenager whose younger sister, Bianca, played by Larisa Oleynik, is forbidden by their father from dating until Kat finds herself a boyfriend.
When new student Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) falls for Bianca, he enlists Patrick Verona (Ledger), a mysterious Australian with a bad-boy reputation, to woo her older sister.
The cast also includes Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union, and Susan May Pratt.
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” occupies a special place in the film, in which Patrick serenades Kat from the stands of her high school football stadium in an attempt to win her over.
The scene, featuring Patrick dancing across the bleachers as the school marching band plays, remains one of the film’s most memorable moments.
Stiles and Sosa recreated elements of Ledger’s performance within the routine, before the Save the Last Dance star laid a rose under a picture of the pair from the film as Kat’s iconic poem played in the background.
She was then joined by her former co-stars, who gathered around her as the tribute came to an end.
Stiles said she had personally asked each of her former co-stars to take part. “I said, if we had to have someone with us on stage representing Heath’s legacy or the film, I said it had to be the whole cast. I begged them, each and every one of them, and they all rallied. They really did,” she told Variety.
“I know that Dedication Night is emotional but I thought I was distanced from it enough. Like, oh, it was so many years ago. Something about seeing clips from that movie and images and hearing my voice and hearing his voice is bringing back so many memories. It’s a lot,” she said about practising for the routine.
10 Things I Hate About You arrived at a pivotal point in the careers of both stars. For Stiles, then 17, it was her first leading role in a major studio production. For Ledger, an Australian actor who was largely unknown to American audiences, it was his Hollywood debut.
The film went on to earn $54m worldwide but its cultural staying power would far outlast its box-office run.
“He was so authentic,” Stiles said about the late actor during rehearsals. “I was so charmed by him. I see pictures from that time like, ‘Wow, it was so easy with him.’”
“I have so many great memories but I am also sad because I really wish I could pick up the phone and be like, ‘Hey dude,’” she added.
Contest judge Carrie Ann Inaba remarked that watching Stiles dance made her want to open her heart, while Bruno Tonioli described the routine as a “wonderful tribute to an outstanding talent by an equally talented performer”.
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