Julia Stiles Heath Ledger DWTS dedication ended with an unexpected reunion
A ballroom routine honoring her late co-star brought five familiar faces onto the dance floor the moment the music stopped.
Julia Stiles brought the cast of the 1999 teen classic 10 Things I Hate About You back together on Tuesday night, dedicating her latest routine to her late co-star Heath Ledger during Dedication Night on Dancing with the Stars Season 35.
Alongside professional partner Ezra Sosa, the American actress performed a contemporary dance set to Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” The song famously soundtracked the moment Ledger’s character, Patrick Verona, serenaded Stiles’ character, Kat Stratford, across the high school stadium bleachers in the film.
At the end of the routine, Stiles placed a single rose on the ballroom stairs in front of a screen displaying a photo of herself and Ledger from the movie as a voiceover played. When she turned around, five of her former co-stars stood waiting on the dance floor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, Larisa Oleynik, Andrew Keegan, and Susan May Pratt.
An emotional ballroom tribute
The judges awarded Stiles and Sosa a score of 36 out of 40, giving the pair four 9s. No couples were sent home during the Week 6 broadcast.
Ahead of the live episode, Union posted video footage from the Dancing with the Stars studio lot showing the reunited cast cheering for Stiles. In backstage footage filmed on the lot, Gordon-Levitt told Union that she was the “best hype person.”
Sosa and Stiles also shared a joint Instagram message before taking the stage, outlining their thoughtful approach to the tribute. Ledger died in January 2008 at age 28 from an accidental prescription drug overdose.
Remembering Heath Ledger
In rehearsal footage aired during the broadcast, Stiles reflected openly on the creative impact Ledger had on her life and career. “I see pictures from that time, and I’m like, wow. It was so easy with him. I have so many great memories, but I’m also really sad, because I wish I could pick up the phone and be like, ‘Hey dude, people really care about that movie. We did something special.’ And I can’t do that,” she said.
Stiles added during rehearsals, “I want to recreate the lust for life that he had in that scene.”
Speaking to co-host Julianne Hough immediately after the performance, Stiles shared what it felt like working alongside Ledger nearly three decades ago. “I remember that Heath just brought out the light in everybody. He was the leader of the pack at the time. He made everybody else shine,” she said.
The emotional weight of the preparation had already surprised the actress days earlier. Speaking to Variety at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards on October 16, Stiles admitted: “I was crying in rehearsals today. It’s so crazy. And I sound so stupid when I say this, when I say this, I didn’t expect it.”
She told People that she initially assumed time would create emotional distance. “I know from watching the show how emotional Dedication Night is. It’s always very personal stories. But 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,” Stiles explained.
Nostalgia on the dance floor
This was not the first time Stiles brought one of her iconic film projects to the ballroom floor this season. On the previous week’s Super Bowl Night broadcast on October 13, she performed a routine paying homage to her 2001 film Save the Last Dance, which included an in-person ballroom cameo from co-star Sean Patrick Thomas.
What remains to be seen is how the Week 6 judges’ scores and viewer votes will factor into the competition next week, when Dancing with the Stars holds a double elimination during its upcoming “Horror Movie Night.”
