Julia Stiles Says10 Things I Hate About YouCharacter 'Meant a Lot' as a Teen Star: 'I Was Vulnerable' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Julia Stiles pictured alongside her character in the 1999 movie ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.Photo:Jamie McCarthy/Getty;  Buena Vista/Getty

Jamie McCarthy/Getty;  Buena Vista/Getty

Julia Stilesis reflecting on her iconic role in10 Things I Hate About You.

On Wednesday, Jan. 15, the actress, 43, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE at the New York screening of her directorial debut movie,Wish You Were Here,revealing that the 1999 classic is the movie she’s most “recognized” for.

“Something’s in the ether and I love that so much,” she tells PEOPLE, noting why the spirited character of Kat Stratford means so much to her.

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Julia Stiles at the screening of ‘Wish You Were Here’ in New York on Wednesday, Jan. 15.Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

“And then I read10 Things I Hate About Youand Kat Stratford was like this feisty outspoken girl who did not care what people thought about her,” Stiles continues.

“So it meant a lot to me to be in that movie and that it resonates with people still is so great.”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt,Gabrielle Unionand the lateHeath Ledgerstarred in10 Things I Hate About Youalongside Stiles. The movie tells the story of high school student Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) trying to find a date for Kat (Stiles) as he wants to date her younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik).

Ledger and Stiles in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.Buena Vista/Getty

Buena Vista/Getty

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Asked if she’s still in touch with her castmates, Stiles says, “A little bit, but from a distance.”

“Josh lives in London and, Joseph lives in LA and I know that Larisa Oleynik is gonna be here tonight, which will be wonderful, to see her,” she explains.

During an appearance onWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohenon Jan. 13, Stiles also spoke aboutworking with Ledgeron the teen rom-com.

“He was such a force,” she said. “He walked into a room and just lit it up and had so much energy and passion, and it’s really sad that he’s gone.”

Ledgerdied at the age of 28 on Jan. 22, 2008. A toxicology report revealed afatal mix of prescription drugsin his system.

Stiles also tells PEOPLE that despite loving the movies she’s been in, she doesn’t watch them back as she’s “too critical” of herself.

“I really appreciate when people respond to movies that I’ve been in, but I don’t watch them because I’m always too critical looking back at like, ‘Oh, I wish I had done that differently,’ but now it’s become kind of like a time capsule of different periods of my life,” she says.

source: people.com