A dance built around a film memory
On Tuesday night's episode of Dancing With the Stars, Julia Stiles honored the late Heath Ledger during Dedication Night. She and her partner Ezra Sosa danced a contemporary routine set to Can't Take My Eyes Off You, the Frankie Valli number that in the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You is performed by Ledger's character, Patrick, from the bleachers while Stiles's Kat Stratford is at soccer practice.[S1]
Stiles arranged for her former co-stars to share the moment. She told Variety that she had argued for the entire cast to be present if anyone was going to stand on stage representing Ledger's legacy or the film, and that she pleaded with every one of them until all agreed to take part.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S8]
Looking back at 17, and standing at 45
After the performance, Stiles described the experience of seeing herself in a blue dress and hairstyle reminiscent of the film as strange and disorienting. She said that at 17 she could never have imagined being on the show at 45, celebrating her body, dancing on a program she loves, and finding fans still drawn to the movie and still moved by it.[S1]
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Earlier in the week, Stiles had spoken to Variety about how emotional the rehearsals had become. She said she had assumed enough time had passed to keep her distanced from the material, but that clips, images and the sound of her own voice and Ledger's brought back a flood of memories, and she began crying while practicing.[S1]
She also reflected on what performers hope to achieve, saying that making audiences feel something and care about the work is a central goal, and that Ledger's memory endures because his performance was so remarkable. Ledger died in January 2008 at the age of 28.[S1]
