Julia Stiles said she asked Michelle Williams for permission before the cast of 10 Things I Hate About You gathered on Dancing With the Stars this week to honor Heath Ledger. The answer, Stiles said, was yes.
That detail is why the reunion is drawing attention now: the tribute was not just a nostalgic cast moment, but one handled with the approval of Ledger’s former partner. Stiles told Extra that she did not want to speak for Ledger’s family, and that she went directly to Williams before the dance.
The cast turnout made the moment feel less like a cameo and more like a reunion. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union and Susan May Pratt were there, while David Krumholtz was not in L.A. for the broadcast because he was shooting a film in the Catskill Mountains, upstate New York.
Krumholtz made clear there was no snub. He said he would have loved to be there, praised Julia Stiles’ tribute as amazing and stunning, and said he was proud of her. Stiles answered in the comments: “We love you Krumholtz!”
The larger story is that the reunion landed without the kind of backstage friction that often shadows tribute moments. Krumholtz’s absence was explained, the tribute had Williams’ approval, and the cast who could make it did so. What remains unanswered is the film title pulling Krumholtz away from L.A., even as the reunion itself looked settled and complete.
