Julia Stiles Pays Tribute to Heath Ledger on Dancing With the Stars

Julia Stiles danced a tribute to Heath Ledger on Tuesday night's Dancing With the Stars, set to the song Ledger's character sang to her in their 1999 film.

The episode was the show's Dedication Night, held on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, according to People. Stiles and her partner, Ezra Sosa, performed a contemporary routine to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," the 1967 hit by Frankie Valli. In 10 Things I Hate About You, Ledger's character, Patrick, sings the song from the bleachers while Stiles's character, Kat Stratford, is at soccer practice.

The routine ended with audio of Stiles reciting the poem she reads to Ledger's character in the film. Her 10 Things co-stars joined her on the ballroom floor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union and Susan May Pratt. The performance received four nines, according to Variety, which reported the episode.

In a video package shown on the show, Stiles said she had learned a great deal from Ledger. She said she wished she could call him, and she became emotional while speaking. Earlier in the week, she told Variety that she had cried while rehearsing. Seeing clips and hearing her own voice and Ledger's from the film brought the memories back.

Hours before the live show, Sosa posted a statement on Instagram. He said the tribute had been made with the utmost respect and with close guidance from the people who knew Ledger's memory best.

Ledger died in January 2008 at the age of 28. Nearly two decades on, the segment brought the cast of the film back together on one stage, if only for a few minutes.