How Heath Ledger charmed a generation with ’10 Things I Hate About You’
In 2008, 28-year-old Heath Ledger was found dead, cutting short a career that was already impressively stacked with illustrious credits. He was never able to see the success he would achieve with his performance in The Dark Knight, which would win him various posthumous awards, including an Oscar. Yet, in his short career, Ledger made a lasting impact, creating one of the most iconic villains of all time in the form of the Joker.
Ledger’s talent and dedication was impressive. Not only did he imbue every performance with so much naturalism – even when he was playing the most unhinged and terrifying people – but he studied hard, truly tapping into the minds of his characters. He might be best remembered for playing the deranged antagonist of Gotham City, but he also impressed critics with his Oscar-nominated role in Brokeback Mountain, as well as performances in movies like A Knight’s Tale, Ned Kelly, Candy, and I’m Not There.
However, one of the Australian actor’s first film roles came in 1999, introducing him to an American audience – and charming a generation in the process. 10 Things I Hate About You was released during the height of the teen rom-com boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when titles like Bring It On, The Princess Diaries, Mean Girls, and Legally Blonde achieved significant popularity. These films have all endured today, remaining beloved time capsules of a simpler time when frosted lip gloss and platform flip-flops were all the rage.
10 Things I Hate About You took a modernised approach to William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, with Julia Stiles starring as Kat Stratford and Larisa Oleynik playing her slightly younger and polar opposite sister, Bianca. The story follows Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Cameron as he tries to win the affections of Bianca, who is only allowed to date when Kat gets a boyfriend (something their father knows is unlikely at this moment in time).
Clearly, the Sylvia Plath reading, riot-grrrl loving Kat isn’t interested in a relationship, much to the frustration of Bianca, who wants to date another student, Joey. Thus, a complicated plot is woven in the quest for Bianca, which is where Ledger’s Patrick Verona comes in. Cameron uses Joey as a way to get closer to Bianca, tricking him into setting Kat up with a guy so that he can swoop in and land Bianca for himself. Joey decides to pay Patrick to date Kat, but, of course, the pair soon find themselves falling for each other.
Naturally, drama ensues as Kat finds out about the plan, but in between moments of chaos and emotion are joyous and over-the-top scenes, such as when Patrick surprises Kat by performing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ by Frankie Valli on the bleachers. Here, Ledger is perhaps at his most unserious compared to the other credits that would come to define his career, and you can’t help but fall for his curly-haired character. Playing a classic bad boy with a soft interior, Patrick is humorous, caring, romantic, and unbothered by his other classmates, carrying himself with a kind of confidence and independence that attracts Kat.
Ledger is instantly charming in the role, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in his place. With his Australian twang, Ledger threw himself into the kind of role he wouldn’t play again, but one he could’ve undoubtedly found repeated success with if he wanted.
Highlighting his comedic chops, Ledger became one of the movie’s most beloved characters, a kindhearted outsider misunderstood by his peers. The role acted as a launch pad for him to move onto a variety of roles, such as more comedies and then, most unforgettably, the crazed clown-makeup-wearing Joker, his greatest achievement.
