Julia Stiles Dances for Heath Ledger on Dancing With the Stars, Without David Krumholtz

Julia Stiles paid tribute to Heath Ledger on Dancing With the Stars this week, but her 10 Things I Hate About You co-star David Krumholtz was not there to join the reunion. The Hollywood Reporter reported the absence from Tuesday night's episode.

Stiles and her professional partner, Ezra Sosa, dedicated their routine to Ledger. He starred opposite Stiles in the 1999 teen comedy and died in 2008, at age 28, from an accidental overdose. The couple danced to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli, the song Ledger's character, Patrick Verona, uses to serenade Stiles' character, Kat Stratford, in the film.

The routine was part of the show's Dedication Night, when contestants honour people who have shaped their lives. After the dance, Stiles laid a flower on the floor for Ledger while a poem her character reads about Patrick played in the ballroom. Andrew Keegan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Gabrielle Union and Susan May Pratt joined her there.

Krumholtz played Michael Eckman, a friend of new student Cameron James who also had a crush on Bianca Stratford. He was not in the ballroom. In an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, he said he could not get to Los Angeles because he was in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, filming a movie. Entertainment Weekly reported that he said he would have loved to be there.

He also showed off a newly bald head after shaving off what hair he had left. He joked that joining the reunion would have become internet fodder. Stiles spoke about his absence in a post-show interview with Entertainment Tonight, according to Just Jared.

Dancing With the Stars airs on Tuesdays on ABC and streams on Disney+. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough host, and Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli judge the routines. Celebrities perform with professional dancers, and the panel scores each one.