Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Julia Stiles paid tribute to Heath Ledger on 'Dancing with the Stars'
Actress Julia Stiles used her Dedication Night dance on Dancing with the Stars to pay tribute to her former co-star Heath Ledger. Ledger and Stiles co-starred in the 1999 coming-of-age romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.
For Dedication Night, Julia Stiles and pro partner Ezra Sosa performed a contemporary routine to Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” the song Heath Ledger’s character famously serenades her with in the 1999 film. The dance honored Ledger, who died in 2008.
Julia Stiles honored the late Heath Ledger on Dancing With the Stars with a contemporary dance to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”
The routine closed with audio of Stiles reciting the poem her character reads to Ledger’s in the movie before fellow co-stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union and Susan May Pratt then joined her on the ballroom floor.
Stiles placed a single rose on the stairs before her castmates came out, and the group linked arms against footage from the film on a big screen.
“I learned a lot from Heath… It was so easy with him,” Stiles said of Ledger. “I have so many great memories. I really wish I could pick up the phone, and be like, ‘Hey dude.’”
“He lives on because his performance in that film was so incredible,” she added. “I really feel how important it is to honor him.”
I watch Dancing with the Stars with my wife and in case anyone is wondering what a real one Heath Ledger was, Julia Stiles is dedicating her dance to him on Dedication Night — almost 30 years after they made 10 Things I Hate About You together
— Eric Italiano (@ericitaIiano) October 21, 2026
10 Things I Hate About You was Ledger’s first American movie and instantly turned him into a star, leading to roles in films such as The Patriot, A Knight’s Tale, Monster’s Ball, Lords of Dogtown, The Brothers Grimm, and Brokeback Mountain, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
In 2008, the same year he passed away at the age of 28 years old, Ledger starred as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, which went on to become one of the defining performances of 21 century cinema and earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.