18 Behind-The-Scenes (+ Other Details) About “10 Things I Hate About You”

For many fans, the film 10 Things I Hate About You is considered such an iconic and classic movie. Almost 20 years after the film's initial release, fans still can't get enough of the late '90s film. There are many hilarious scenes and classic one-liners in 10 Things I Hate About You that helps make this movie such a fan favorite.

10 Things I Hate About You also helped launch the careers of many of the movie's stars, who eventually went on to become household names. Many of the stars from the film are still actively working in Hollywood today.

It was also one of the many films that helped jumpstart the wave of teen romantic comedies, which eventually became a go-to, staple genre of movies that were released in the late 90s and early 00s. Since the film is such a popular movie among fans, there are a few little fun facts that went on behind the scenes that the average movie watcher may not have known about such as the inspiration for the film's title, as well as how certain scenes, which are now considered iconic, were accidentally made a part of the film.

Let's take a look at a few behind-the-scenes details, plus some other interesting tidbits about the beloved movie, 10 Things I Hate About You.

18 The Movie Title Was Inspired By A Diary

The title 10 Things I Hate About You was actually based on one of the screenwriter's diary entries. Screenwriter Karen McCullah revealed that she kept a diary during her high school days that depicted all of the things that she didn't like about her boyfriend at the time, as Revolvy reports.

When trying to come up with the title for the film, McCullah discovered the high school diary that she had long forgotten about and realized that her diary entries about her boyfriend were the perfect name for the upcoming film.

17 Julia Stiles's Dance Landed Her Another Role

Remember in the movie there is a scene where Kat (Julia Stiles) starts to dance on tabletops at the party? Well, that particular scene actually helped actress Julia Stiles land another memorable acting gig (we know you all know which movie we are referring to).

That's right, thanks to Kat's impromptu dance scene, Julia Stiles was able to snag the role of Sara Lawrence, alongside Sean Patrick Thomas in the dance film, Save The Last Dance, which was released on January 12th, 2001.

16 Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger Dated Off-Screen

As you probably already know Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles played love interests Kat and Patrick in the 10 Things film. Their on-screen relationship eventually translated off-screen, too. It has been said that the two co-stars actually dated for a short time while they were working together on the movie. Years later, Julia Stiles opened up and told The Mirror,

"We were at a time in our lives when we were still open and uncensored, and un-self-conscious - it was fun.”

15 Joseph Gordon-Levitt Was Actually Fluent In French

Joseph Gordon-Levitt played the role of Cameron James in the 10 Things I Hate About You film. The character Cameron decided to learn French so that he could eventually help, tutor and ultimately win over Bianca Stratford's heart. Well, it was reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt didn't even have to prepare entirely too much in order to learn French for his character and to make the story believable, because he was already fluent in the language!

He even studied French poetry at Columbia University, as ScreenPrism reports.

14 Josh Hartnett And Ashton Kutcher Were Originally Considered For Patrick

It's difficult for us to even wrap our heads around this one, but Heath Ledger wasn't the first pick when it came to playing the role of Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You. Actors Ashton Kutcher and Josh Hartnett were the ones originally considered for the role of Kat's love interest. The casting directors were looking for an actor who had a little edge, along with some charm and charisma, so they decided to go along with casting Heath Ledger instead of Kutcher and Hartnett.

We can all agree that they made a great choice!

13 It Was Heath Ledger's First American Film

Heath Ledger had already gained notoriety with his work in a few Australian films (his home country) before he was awarded the role of Patrick Verona. The movie 10 Things I Hate About You actually marked the beginning of Heath Ledger's crossover career as it was the actor's first major film ever in the U.S.

The movie became a huge success, as Biography reports, and a lot of people in Hollywood began to take note of Heath Ledger's acting skills (and so did we).

12 Julia's Tears Were Actually Improvised

While Stiles's character Kat Stratford is reading her 10 Things poem in class in the film, she surprisingly begins to cry and eventually walks out of the classroom in tears.

Well, it turns out that those crying tears were actually not in the original script, as Nova 100 reports. Instead, Stiles decided to improvise her character's tears and emotion. This particular scene was done in one take, and we can all agree that it's one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.

11 Julia Had Her Very First On-Screen Kiss While Filming

Julia Stiles actually had her first on-screen kiss thanks to her role in 10 Things I Hate About You. Kat and Patrick shared a romantic scene in the movie that eventually led to a kiss.

Stiles had previously starred in a variety of films and television shows (such as, Before Women Had Wings, Wide Awake, Chicago's Hope, Promised Land and I Love You, I Love You Not) before getting her iconic role in the film, but none of those roles required her to kiss a (handsome) co-star.

10 It Was One Of Gabrielle Union's First Films

10 Things I Hate About You was one of the very first films that actress Gabrielle Union had the opportunity to work on. Union played the role of Chasity Church, one of Bianca Stratford's closets and best friends (although her status should have been reconsidered).

Following the release of the movie, Union continued to successfully book teen roles in a lot of late 90s and early 00s films that many fans consider to be cult classics, such as Bring It On and She's All That. 

9 There Are Actually 14 Things Listed In Kat's Poem

While the title of the film is 10 Things I Hate About You, Kat actually listed a total of 14 things that she didn't like about her love interest, Patrick in her poem. At the end of the movie, Kat came to realize how much she truly loved to agree and disagree with many of Patrick's wild antics.

Are you wondering how you didn't spot that there were 14 points? Well, it's because Kat combined some of the points, so it was easy to miss them, as 11 Points reports.

8 The Film Didn't Have A Set Location

A lot of films and television shows have a set, primary location where they choose to film their various scenes. Often times, those sets are created on a studio stage on a production lot. 10 Things I Hate About You was filmed a little differently. The movie didn't have a set location to film.

Instead, the movie was shot at an actual high school located in Tacoma, Washington, as King5 reports. Filming at a high school helped give the movie an authentic teen romantic comedy feel to it.

7 There Was A Spin-Off TV Show

Many movies are so successful that they either get sequels or a television show based on their premise. 10 Things I Hate About You was one of those movies, as it had its very own spin-off series! The series once aired on ABC Family, as Spot reports, before the network changed its name to Freeform.

The series based on the movie aired 10 years after its initial release. Sadly, it only lasted on the network for one whole season and was eventually cancelled one year after being aired.

6 Ms. Perky's Line Was Improvised

Ms. Perky, played by popular actress Allison Janney, delivered a line in the movie that became pretty famous and iconic.

The phrase "Kat. Meow" was actually not scripted, though. Janney came up with it right on the spot while they were filming the scene (and we can't say we're surprised).

Janney stated that the directors of the film allowed her to have as much fun with her character, Ms. Perky, as she wanted to, as Buzzfeed reports.

5 The Film Is Based On A Shakespearean Play

The entire screenplay of 10 Things I Hate About You was actually based on a well-known play by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew provided a lot of influence on how the film was written. There were also a lot of Shakespeare referenced in the dialogue.

Many of the characters even make references to the play. Patrick's surname, Verona, comes directly from The Taming of the Shrew. The character of Mr. Morgan also raps a Shakespearean sonnet, as Hello Giggles points out.

4 Heath Ledger Got Huge Roles After The Film's Success

Following 10 Things I Hate About You's success, Heath Ledger became a highly sought-after actor in America. Even though he hadn't had much experience before 10 Things I Hate About You (other than a few gigs in his home country of Australia),his acting made such an impact that he later clinched big roles in movies such as Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight, which showed how versatile he was as an actor.

Heath will forever be remembered for his role in 10 Things I Hate About You, and he will forever be remembered for everything else he did after the role.

3 Cameron James Was Inspired By A Famous Director

In the movie, Cameron James was determined to go out on a date with Kat's younger sister, Bianca. However, since Bianca wasn't allowed to date unless her older and more mature sister Kat, started dating, Cameron was wise enough to come up with a plan to get one of his friends to go on a date with Kat.

Cameron is such a funny, quirky guy, and it's interesting to note that his name was actually inspired by the name of famous film director, James Cameron, as Nova 100 points out.

2 The Red Car Actually Belonged To Heath

If you've watched the movie 10 Things I Hate About You as many times as we have, then you'd surely remember that Kat (Julia Stiles) drives a shiny bright red Dodge Dart GT in the movie. It was a car that Kat cherished very much, but it wasn't actually a prop brought in for the film - no, in fact the Dodge Dart actually belonged to Heath Ledger, as Nova 100 points out.

We're sure he cringed a little when watching the scene in which Kat had to back the car into Joey's car in order to upset him.

1 Julia Stiles Doesn't Like Watching The Movie

While many fans still can't get enough of watching 10 Things I Hate About You, it's quite a different story for actress Julia Stiles. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Stiles confirmed that she really doesn't enjoy watching the movie. She said,

"I'm so grateful to have been in that movie. It was my first big break, and such a fun part. I have so many good memories from filming, but I don't really like to watch it back. "

She added, "If you could imagine a home video of your seventeen-year-old self, broadcast for all the world to see, you might feel slightly uncomfortable, too. I was such a baby."