Julia Stiles honored her late on-screen partner Heath Ledger with an emotional performance on “Dancing with the Stars“. The actress and her professional partner Ezra Sosa performed a contemporary dance on the episode “Dedication Night“, dedicated to the people and places that left a mark on the contestants' lives.
The song choice brought viewers back to one of the most familiar scenes from the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You“. Styles and Sosa danced to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You“ by Frankie Valli – the song that Ledger's character, Patrick Verona, sings from the stands to Kat Stratford, played by Styles.
Cast Reunion 27 Years Later
At the end of the performance, Styles' voice was heard reciting the poem from the film's finale. Then Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union and Susan May Pratt appeared on the dance floor – her co-stars from the romantic comedy.
TV Insider reported that Styles left a rose in front of a photo of herself and Ledger before addressing the rest of the cast. They also appeared together in a behind-the-scenes video of the show, filmed before the live broadcast.
„I wish I could call him“
In the video before the dance, Styles tearfully spoke about working with Ledger. „I learned a lot from Heath. He was so easy,“ she said, as quoted by Variety.
The actress added that she has a lot of great memories, but regrets that she can no longer pick up the phone and tell him: „Hey, man, people really love this movie. We did something special.“
Styles also said that her reaction to the scene where Patrick sings from the stands was completely sincere. “I was so captivated by him“, she said, quoted by Us Weekly.
Styles' best score yet
The performance earned Styles and Sosa four 9s, or a total of 36 points out of 40. This is the actress's highest score of the season so far.
Heath Ledger died in January 2008 at the age of 28. “10 Things I Hate About You“ remains one of the roles he and Julia Stiles were most closely associated with early in their careers.
The episode ended without any eliminations. According to TV Insider, next week the remaining 10 couples will compete in a Halloween themed night that will end in a double elimination.
Sources: au.variety.com, tvinsider.com, usmagazine.com