Julia Stiles is confirming that she reached out to late 10 Things I Hate About You costar Heath Ledger‘s former partner Michelle Williams before honoring him on Dancing With the Stars.
“I did ask Michelle if this was OK,” Julia, 45, confirmed to Extra following “Dedication Night” on Tuesday, October 20. “She said yes.”
Tuesday night’s DWTS featured each celebrity contestant paying tribute to someone important from their lives. Julia chose to honor Heath — and was subsequently joined on stage by their fellow 10 Things I Hate About You cast members Gabrielle Union, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Susan May Pratt and Andrew Keegan. (The 1999 rom-com’s writers, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, were also in the DWTS studio to watch Julia and her pro partner Ezra Sosa‘s contemporary routine.)
“I called Joey and Larisa [first] and then Susan and Keegan and everybody, and also the two female writers of 10 Things were here tonight. I reached out to them,” Julia confirmed to the outlet. “The web got cast and everybody kinda said, ‘I’ll do it if everybody else does it.’ And that was it!”
Unfortunately, 10 Things alum David Krumholtz was absent from the reunion because he was shooting a movie in New York though he said he’d “have loved, loved, loved to have been there.”
Julia and Ezra’s powerful homage to Ledger was a hit with the judges, delivering the pair their highest score of the season thus far with 36 out of 40 points. (The routine was set to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” which Heath’s character sings to Julia in 10 Things.)
Prior to hitting the dance floor, Julia opened up to Dancing With the Stars fans about how much it meant to be celebrating Heath’s life and legacy.
“It was important to me that, in the music and in the dance, that we have the somber tribute to him because, obviously, he’s passed away and he’s no longer with us,” she said in a recent TikTok livestream. “But also that scene brings so much joy to people. And his energy in it, I wanted to have musically and in terms of the choreography. We want to have the joyful celebration of when he was around.”
Ledger died in his New York City loft in January 2008 following an accidental overdose. He was 28. (The Dark Knight actor had one child, daughter Matilda, shared with ex Michelle, 46.)
“I have so many great memories [of Heath], but I’m also sad because I really wish that I could pick up the phone and be like, ‘Hey dude, people really care about that movie. We did something special.’ And I can’t do that,” Julia acknowledged in her livestream.
Julia and her professional partner Ezra advanced to next week’s “Horror Night,” in which they will perform a spooky routine in honor of Halloween.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
