10 Things I Hate About You is a contemporary (albeit loose) update of William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew and it's being re-released at Cineworld this Valentine's Day.
Can you believe that this high-school rom-com classic is now 25 years old? It made mega-stars of the late Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon Levitt, and still stands as a witty, imaginative reworking of the Bard.
If you're planning a Valentine's Day visit to Cineworld, here are 25 fun facts about the movie that will get you primed.
- 10 Things I Hate About You utilises many of the names from the original text including Katherine (Stiles) and Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), the two sisters at the centre of the story.
- Patrick Verona's (Ledger) last name is also a nod to one of the settings in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
- The movie also mirrors the play's narrative in that the strong-willed Katherine, or Kat, cannot get married until Bianca does.
- The location shifts from the Italian city of Padua to Padua High School, and the story follows the Stratford sisters — a nod to William Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Josh Hartnett, Eliza Dushku, Katie Holmes, and Kate Hudson were all considered for roles in the movie.
- Kate Hudson was said to have passed on the role following advice from her mother, Goldie Hawn.
- After seeing Heath Ledger's audition for Patrick Verona, director Gil Junger said he knew the actor was "special" and that he was sure he was going to be a "movie star".
- Julia Stiles confessed that she had been "desperate" to land the part of Katherine, adding: "It was so refreshing to see a teenage girl who was so feisty".
- However, she later confessed: "If you could imagine a home video of your 17-year-old self, broadcast for all the world to see, you might feel slightly uncomfortable, too. I was such a baby".
- Screenwriters Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah were inspired by the hit 1995 film Clueless, which put a contemporary spin on Jane Austen's Emma
- Heath Ledger thought he had failed his initial audition, claiming he had "bombed", but director Gil Junger recognised his star potential
- Joseph Gordon Levitt, who plays Cameron James, wasn't sold on the film when he signed on but later said, "Even if people didn't like the movie, we had such a good time. All of us hung out, all the time".
- Gordon Levitt initially auditioned for the role of Michael, eventually played by David Krumholtz (recently seen in Christopher Nolan's Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer).
- Gabrielle Union, who plays Chastity, was several years older than the rest of the cast and told herself, "Don't quote Earth, Wind and Fire or you'll reveal your age".
- The movie also sports an early movie role for Oscar winner Allison Janney who plays principal Ms Perky.
- Heath Ledger uses his own singing voice in the famous scene where Patrick performs 'I Love You Baby' to Katherine.
- It was Ledger who proposed using the Frankie Valli classic after initial selections ranged from The Partridge Family's 'I Think I Love You' to the Divinyls' 'I Touch Myself'.
- Ledger also selected his costume for the scene: a blue jacket with a white shirt beneath
- The movie was shot at Tacoma High School, later to become Stadium High School, in Tacoma, Washington State
- It was renamed as the latter to honour the stadium in which Patrick sings for Kat.
- Julia Stiles was crying for real during Kat's climactic poetry read for Patrick.
- The take used in the film is the first take.
- Director Gil Junger didn't secure permission to film the band Letters to Cleo on the high school roof but went ahead and shot it anyway
- Lead singer Kay Hanley said: "We did two takes, and it was pretty much assumed that this shot wasn't going to work, and Gil would never work in Hollywood again because he had just blown through half a million dollars doing this shot he was forbidden to do. And it ended up being a pretty iconic scene".
- 10 Things I Hate About You was a critical and commercial success, grossing $60 million against its $13 million budget.
If movies be the food of love (yes, we're paraphrasing there), then go ahead and book your tickets for 10 Things I Hate About You. Remember, you can combine the Valentine's Day screening with our new discounted Early Week Special and our Valentine's Day Gift Box for two for the ultimate date night.
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