The actress' bit of dance experience paid off and helped give her the chance to study dance in depth
Credit: Hulu; Alamy
NEED TO KNOW
- Julia Stiles made a mark as Kat Stratford in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You
- The movie caught the attention of Thomas Carter, who would later audition Stiles for Save the Last Dance
- The 2001 film gave the actress, now 45, the opportunity to delve into dance in a way she hadn’t before
Julia Stiles may have never been in Save the Last Dance if it weren't for 10 Things I Hate About You.
The dance-intensive film required someone who could keep up with the physical demands. In a 2021 interview looking back at the film with Today, the actress, 45, explained how the 1999 film paved the way for her casting in the 2001 movie.
"I met Thomas Carter, the director, and he told me that he had seen 10 Things I Hate About You and the dance that Kat does on the pool table when she's drunk to Biggie Smalls," she said. "He saw that and he was like, 'Oh, you have rhythm,' " she shared.
"So then I screen tested with Sean (Patrick Thomas). And then another actor who was up for the role. And then they hired me."
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Credit: Hulu
The opportunity was an exciting one for Stiles, who had taken some dance classes as a teen but didn't have formal training until she prepared for the film. Stiles admitted that she had to "bust my butt to get in shape," especially so she "could be at the level that Sara was supposed to be at."
"I did ballet as a kid and a teenager. But I had stopped. So that was the most rigorous part of the training. So we did two months before we started filming. And then on the weekends, we would do the choreography rehearsals," she recalled.
"Fatima (Robinson), who was the hip-hop choreographer, when we would rehearse the audition scene, she was always, always refining the moves. So it was hard to keep up."
"The absolute best thing about making that movie was the dance," she said. "I mean, the rehearsals, and the dance training. I was, like, 'Sign me up; where do I start?' " she said.
"It was really challenging and really daunting because I'm not a professional dancer. So there was a lot of playing catch-up. But it was so fun. And such an awesome opportunity to get to do that kind of, like, rigorous training, and choreography rehearsals."
Read the full article here