10 Things I Hate About You

About 10 Things I Hate About You

"10 Things I Hate About You" is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy-drama film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The storyline is based on William Shakespeare's late 16th-century comedy "The Taming of the Shrew", retold in a late-20th-century American high school setting. In the story, new student Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) is smitten with Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get 'bad boy' Patrick (Ledger) to date Bianca's ill-tempered sister, Kat (Stiles). The film is titled after a poem written by Kat about her bittersweet romance with Patrick.

Making / Production

The film was produced by Touchstone Pictures and was released on March 31, 1999. The screenplay was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. It was filmed primarily in Tacoma, Washington, with scenes also shot in Seattle.

Actors

• Julia Stiles as Katarina "Kat" Stratford: Stiles played the strong-willed feminist with a sharp tongue, who initially resists Patrick's advances but eventually falls for him.
• Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona: Ledger gave a standout performance as the apparent 'bad boy' who shows a softer side when he falls for Kat.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James: Gordon-Levitt played the new student at Padua High School who falls for Bianca Stratford.
• Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford: Oleynik portrayed Bianca, the popular younger sister of Kat, who is eager to start dating.

Trivia / Interesting Facts

• The film marked Heath Ledger's first American film.
• The title derives from a poem that Kat reads during class, listing the “10 things” she hates about Patrick, although the last points reveal that she is still in love with him.
• The scene in which Patrick serenades Kat with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" was Ledger's idea.

Awards

At the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, "10 Things I Hate About You" received multiple nominations and won two awards: Best Female Performance for Julia Stiles and Breakthrough Performance for Heath Ledger.

Quotes

• "I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare."
• "Just because you're beautiful doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter."
• "Some asshole paid me to take out this really great girl."

Music, Soundtrack

• "I Want You to Want Me" - Letters to Cleo
• "FNT" - Semisonic
• "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" - Frankie Valli