Post by Eric Matthews on Mar 31, 2024 19:01:03 GMT -5
When 10 Things I Hate About You was released, 25 years ago today, viewers all over the world fell head over heels for Heath Ledger and his sizzling talent, as well as his blinding chemistry with fellow unknown, Julia Stiles, but that very nearly wasn’t the case.
The flick redefined teen movies with a loose take on William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew, following sisters Kat (Stiles) and Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), whose strict father will not allow them to date. This isn’t ideal for lovestruck teenager Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is smitten with Bianca, although she actually wants to be with Joey ‘Eat Me’ Donner (Andrew Keegan).
In an effort to woo her, Cameron underhandedly enlists Patrick Verona (Ledger) – through Joey’s money – to seduce Kat. Of course, it’s never that simple as the bad boy eventually falls for the angsty feminist, giving us one of the best love stories of our time.
It was an instant hit and grossed around $60million at the worldwide box office, with critics applauding the ‘razor-sharp barbs’, describing the flick as ‘the most charming and unselfconscious’ homage to Shakespeare.
The filmmaker shared his belief that it was a ‘hit movie from day one’, because he never saw it as a typical teen movie, but instead a portrayal of ‘emotionally resonant’ human relationships between people who just happened to be in high school.
‘Heath walked in, he took about four steps towards me and, being as selective as I am, I thought after about four steps, “If this f**ker can read English, I’m going to cast him”. That’s the God’s honest truth,’ he recalled. ‘[He was] so profound and so confident, that it was just an instinct.
‘He read the first page, and at the end of the first page, I asked him to stop. He was ashen, like, “Oh, no, I blew it.”’
Instead, Junger wanted to see how good Ledger was at ‘improv’, and after a few minutes, the audition was over and he landed the job he flew nearly 20 hours from Australia to audition for.
Junger reflected: ‘I had to screen test the actors because Disney suggested I hire this person, this person, this person and this person. Basically it was all the stars of Dawson’s Creek, and I’m not kidding. Because Dawson’s Creek, at the time, was a big hit show … They were interested in James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes. They said, these are the two leads in our opinion.’
Having none of it, the filmmaker fought his ground and urged them to ‘trust’ him to fill the cast with ‘future stars’ – and they reached a compromise by having Holmes and Van Der Beek screen test for the roles beside Stiles and Ledger, where it was evident that the latter pair were more suited.
Junger also recalled that he surprised everyone by adding something that wasn’t scripted, telling us: ‘When the cameras rolled, Heath surprised all of us by running across the stadium. He simply let his creative genius flow unrestrained, as only a true artist can. Luckily our camera departmenthad no problem covering the magic as if it were set in stone.’
Ledger died on January 22, 2008, following an accidental overdose – shortly after he completed work on The Dark Knight. He earned a posthumous best supporting actor Oscar for his stint as the Joker, with the role going down as one of the most celebrated portrayals in movie history.
The flick redefined teen movies with a loose take on William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew, following sisters Kat (Stiles) and Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), whose strict father will not allow them to date. This isn’t ideal for lovestruck teenager Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is smitten with Bianca, although she actually wants to be with Joey ‘Eat Me’ Donner (Andrew Keegan).
In an effort to woo her, Cameron underhandedly enlists Patrick Verona (Ledger) – through Joey’s money – to seduce Kat. Of course, it’s never that simple as the bad boy eventually falls for the angsty feminist, giving us one of the best love stories of our time.
It was an instant hit and grossed around $60million at the worldwide box office, with critics applauding the ‘razor-sharp barbs’, describing the flick as ‘the most charming and unselfconscious’ homage to Shakespeare.
The filmmaker shared his belief that it was a ‘hit movie from day one’, because he never saw it as a typical teen movie, but instead a portrayal of ‘emotionally resonant’ human relationships between people who just happened to be in high school.
‘Heath walked in, he took about four steps towards me and, being as selective as I am, I thought after about four steps, “If this f**ker can read English, I’m going to cast him”. That’s the God’s honest truth,’ he recalled. ‘[He was] so profound and so confident, that it was just an instinct.
‘He read the first page, and at the end of the first page, I asked him to stop. He was ashen, like, “Oh, no, I blew it.”’
Instead, Junger wanted to see how good Ledger was at ‘improv’, and after a few minutes, the audition was over and he landed the job he flew nearly 20 hours from Australia to audition for.
Junger reflected: ‘I had to screen test the actors because Disney suggested I hire this person, this person, this person and this person. Basically it was all the stars of Dawson’s Creek, and I’m not kidding. Because Dawson’s Creek, at the time, was a big hit show … They were interested in James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes. They said, these are the two leads in our opinion.’
Having none of it, the filmmaker fought his ground and urged them to ‘trust’ him to fill the cast with ‘future stars’ – and they reached a compromise by having Holmes and Van Der Beek screen test for the roles beside Stiles and Ledger, where it was evident that the latter pair were more suited.
Junger also recalled that he surprised everyone by adding something that wasn’t scripted, telling us: ‘When the cameras rolled, Heath surprised all of us by running across the stadium. He simply let his creative genius flow unrestrained, as only a true artist can. Luckily our camera departmenthad no problem covering the magic as if it were set in stone.’
Ledger died on January 22, 2008, following an accidental overdose – shortly after he completed work on The Dark Knight. He earned a posthumous best supporting actor Oscar for his stint as the Joker, with the role going down as one of the most celebrated portrayals in movie history.
metro.co.uk/2024/03/31/10-things-hate-25-romcom-nearly-missed-heath-ledger-20547639/