Julia Stiles admitted she was bawling while preparing for the Dancing with the Stars tribute to Heath Ledger. The 1999 romantic comedy has outlasted landlines and every haircut from that decade. Behind the sparkle and sequins, a much quieter moment was unfolding during rehearsal week. Fans of 10 Things I Hate About You know Stiles played Kat Stratford opposite Ledger as Patrick Verona, so emotions were never going to be small.

While the film still lives rent-free on every rewatch list, the rehearsal room for the tribute was busy making Stiles feel every one of the years in between.

Julia Stiles got emotional while rehearsing for Heath Ledger’s tribute on Dancing with the Stars, as the preparations brought back memories of filming 10 Things I Hate About You. She rewatched most of the beloved romantic comedy during rehearsal week and watched clips and listened to audio from the film to prepare for the performance. At 45, Stiles found herself reflecting on the movie she made at just 17, with the tribute bringing back fond memories of her younger self and the cast she reunited with to honor Ledger’s legacy.

"We were watching a lot of clips and listening to audio for the rehearsals and I was like bawling," Stiles said, speaking to Variety.

She then added, “I mean it just brought back a ton of great memories.”

Speaking to Variety, Stiles revealed that she had one firm condition for the tribute on Dancing with the Stars. If someone was going to join her on stage to represent Heath Ledger’s legacy or 10 Things I Hate About You, she insisted it had to be the entire cast. She personally begged each of her former co-stars to participate, and they all rallied behind the idea.

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While the ballroom hosted a reunion, Broadway is preparing to hand the story a bigger stage and a new soundtrack.

Broadway is getting a musical version of 10 Things I Hate About You, the 1999 film starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger, adapted by Lena Dunham and Carly Rae Jepsen. Preview performances will begin on August 17, 2027, which is exactly one year after the news arrived. The countdown has officially begun. Details about the venue, casting, and opening night have not been released. That leaves fans playing casting director for Kat and Patrick.

The creative team is already stacked. Jepsen and Ethan Gruska are writing the music and lyrics, Dunham and Jessica Huang are handling the book, and Tom Kitt oversees music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations. Christopher Wheeldon will direct and choreograph, while Mike Bosner produces. The logline describes a rebellious musical about two sisters defining themselves on their own terms. If clips and audio alone had Stiles bawling in rehearsals, a full Broadway score for her old film may call for a bigger box of tissues.

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