How Heath Ledger beat 250+ others to land 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You director Gil Junger remembers the magnetism of Heath Ledger being a key factor in getting him cast. The post How Heath Ledger beat 250+ others to land 10 Things I Hate About You appeared first on JoBlo.

May 18, 2025 - 21:15

How Heath Ledger beat 250+ others to land 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You was key late-’90s watching for a couple of reasons. One, it actually made Shakespeare fun (sorry, Baz!). But more importantly, it launched or nurtured the careers of so many of a generation’s favorite faces: Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, and, of course, Heath Ledger, who was one of the runaway stars of 10 Things.

Casting the role of Patrick Verona – the bad boy tasked to woo Stiles’ Kat so that Oleynik’s Bianca so she can get a date of her own – was one of the hardest jobs for the team. And while hundreds of guys tried out for the part, once Heath Ledger entered the room, 10 Things director Gil Junger knew he was the one. As he told Entertainment Weekly, “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! 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.’”

Junger added that despite being a teenager (a rarity in Hollywood, as it’s normally 20-somethings cast as high schoolers), Heath Ledger had the right personality to be the one to scale the bleachers in 10 Things. “He just had a magnetism unlike I’ve ever felt. It was undeniable. 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. He was just an incredible young man.”

After 10 Things I Hate About You scored big at the box office, Heath Ledger’s career was off. Soon after, he was cast in The Patriot opposite Mel Gibson, leading A Knight’s Tale and co-starring in Monster’s Ball, all just a few years before he would land his first Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain.

10 Things I Hate About You is still so loved 25+ years later that Junger is even developing a follow-up trilogy that is set to feature 10 Things I Hate About Dating, 10 Things I Hate About Marriage and 10 Things I Hate About Kids. Junger has also supported the idea of paying homage to the late Heath Ledger – who died in 2008 – in the 10 Things trilogy.

The post How Heath Ledger beat 250+ others to land 10 Things I Hate About You appeared first on JoBlo.