How Heath Ledger Won His 10 Things I Hate About You Role
I think I probably speak for a lot of people when I say we aaaaall remember the first time we watched Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You.
The late actor's performance as Patrick Verona in the 1999 Shakespeare-inspired teen movie is, IMHO, one of the best rom-com performances of all time. And what makes it even more magical to look back on is how it marked the beginning of his incredible Hollywood acting career, which, as we now know, was tragically cut short when he died in 2008 at the age of 28.
Despite having already made a name for himself in various projects in his home of Australia, Heath's performance in 10 Things I Hate About You was widely considered his global breakout, propelling him into future projects like A Knight's Tale, Monster's Ball, and, of course, Brokeback Mountain — the latter of which earned him his first Oscar nomination in 2006.
Now, in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director of 10 Things I Hate About You, Gil Junger, recalled how Heath's undeniable 'magnetism' landed him the lead role, despite, at the time, being a relatively unknown actor from the other side of the world.
'Actors always wanted to know, 'What did he do? What did he do to make you cast him?'' the director said, recalling that Heath was 'magic.' 'The truth of the matter is, we were casting and he walked into the room, and I'm very picky. I had already read 253 guys — 253 guys!' he went on. 'And then Marcia Ross, the head of Disney casting, said, 'Look, this next kid, I don't know him. It's a favor for an agent I respect. So if he's no good, just stop it and send him on his way.''
As the story goes, it didn't take Gil long to realize that they had a rising star on their hands, saying: 'This is the God's honest truth, on my parents' life: He took three steps into the room, and my thought was, 'If this fucker can read English, I'm going to cast him.''
Recalling Heath's energy, Gil described Heath as 'an incredible young man.' 'He just had a magnetism unlike I've ever felt. It was undeniable,' the filmmaker recalled. 'If there's old souls, he must have been centuries old because he just had a way about him that — he was only 17, and yet he just was so confident and loving and wanted to be the best he could be.'
Along with now-well-known folks like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Krumholtz, and Gabrielle Union, Heath starred in the movie opposite Julia Stiles, who played his love interest Kat. Notably, one of my favorite scenes in the film was when Heath's character, Patrick, serenades Kat with a marching band — instantly iconic.
Adorably, Gil remembered Heath's first day on set, right down to the details of his outfit. 'He was wearing Frye boots from the '70s, and then he had on these worn-out olive green leather pants, a white leather belt, some crazy shirt, and a hat like a beanie,' he told EW. 'And I looked at him and I thought, 'God, he's cool.' And then I also thought, 'If I wore one of those pieces of clothing, I would be the laughing stock of everyone that knows me.''
'He just had this magic where you could just throw anything on him, maybe even paint it, and he'd be amazingly cool, because the kid you saw in the movie, that's who he was,' he added. 'He was just an amazing human.'
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