The routine

On 20 October, during the Dedication Night episode of the US version of Dancing with the Stars, Julia Stiles performed a contemporary routine with her professional partner Ezra Sosa. The routine was set to Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", the song Heath Ledger's character Patrick sings from the stands to win over Kat Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You. Stiles, 45, wore a blue dress resembling the one her character wore in the film and had a similar hairstyle. Parts of the routine echoed gestures from Ledger's original scene before it closed on a photograph of the two actors from the movie. Ledger died in 2008, aged 28, from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

The reunion

At the end of the routine Stiles laid a rose on the stairs beneath a photo of herself and Ledger, then stepped back toward the others. Gabrielle Union, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Keegan, Susan May Pratt and Larisa Oleynik joined her on stage, and the group held hands while looking at the picture. Sean Patrick Thomas, who played her character's boyfriend Derek Reynolds in the film, was in the audience and reacted from the sidelines of the dance floor just as his character did. Stiles told Variety that she had personally asked each cast member 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.”

Ledger and the film

10 Things I Hate About You, released in 1999 and directed by Gil Junger, is a modern take on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. For Ledger it was his first Hollywood role after moving from Australia, and the scene in which Patrick serenades Kat from the bleachers remains one of the film's best known moments. Ledger later won a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008). Before the performance Stiles described him as "so authentic" and said she wanted to recreate the lust for life he showed in that scene.

“I remember that Heath just brought out the light in everybody.”

Preparation and reflections

Stiles told People on 15 October, at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards, that preparing the tribute had affected her more than she expected. She had thought the years since the film's release would give her distance, but watching clips, looking at old photographs and hearing their voices brought memories back. Stiles said she wished she could phone Ledger and tell him that people still care about the film. Before the performance she told Dancing with the Stars co-host Julianne Hough that she was reflecting on who she had been at 17.

“I know that Dedication Night is emotional but I thought I was distanced from it enough.”

A tribute from the pair

Stiles and Ezra Sosa posted a joint message on Instagram before the show, saying the tribute had been created with the utmost respect and close guidance from those who knew Ledger best. The Dedication Night format lets contestants dedicate their performances to people or experiences that matter to them, and many participants chose family members such as mothers, sisters and partners. Stiles chose a former co-star and a film that still draws fans nearly two decades after Ledger's death, and the reunion on stage was the result of her personal requests to the cast.