Julia Stiles danced to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” on Dedication Night, the Frankie Valli song Heath Ledger’s Patrick serenades her character with in 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You. She wore a blue dress like the one from the film and a 90s-style updo for the contemporary routine with pro partner Ezra Sosa on the October 20 episode of Dancing With the Stars.
In a clip played before the October 20, 2026 performance, Stiles said, “I learned a lot from Heath. He was so authentic.” Remembering their work together, she added, “I have so many great memories, but I’m also sad because I really wish that I could pick up the phone and be like, ‘Hey, dude. People really care about that movie. We did something special.’”
The film was a breakout for both actors. Stiles, who was 17-18 during filming and is now 45, said her reaction to Ledger’s charm on set was genuine: “It was so easy with him.” She described how he “brought out the light in everybody… he was the leader of the pack… made everybody else shine.”
In the film, Joey pays Patrick to take Kat out, and Patrick tries to win her over by singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” to her at soccer practice with a marching band, moving across the stadium bleachers. Stiles said she hoped to “recreate the lust for life that he had in that scene”; the choreography echoed Patrick’s movements.
At the end of the dance, audio of Stiles reciting Kat’s “10 Things I Hate About You” poem played as she placed 1 rose on steps before a large image of herself and Ledger from the film.
Stiles said the tribute needed to be “authentic and sincere” and that they wanted to “handle it delicately.” Sosa wrote that they approached it with more care, sensitivity and intention than any performance they’d done before, seeking guidance from people closest to Ledger’s memory.
Rehearsing the song left Stiles “bawling,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’m distanced enough from it. The movie was so many years ago.’ But something about watching clips from that movie, seeing our pictures, hearing our voices, is bringing up a lot.”
After the dance, 5 former castmates surprised Stiles on the floor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played Cameron; Gabrielle Union, who played Chastity; Larisa Oleynik, who played Bianca; Andrew Keegan, who played Joey; and Susan May Pratt, who played Mandella. Stiles said she wanted them there to represent Ledger’s legacy and the film: “I begged them, each and every one of them, and they all rallied. They really did.”
Speaking to the show’s hosts 27 years after the film, Stiles reflected on “who I was at 17 years old and who I am now… We were so playful back then.” She and Sosa received 36/40 from the judges, with 4 scores of 9, among her highest marks of the season.
Ledger died of an accidental overdose in 2008 at age 28.
