Julia Stiles Told The Most Touching Story About Heath Ledger On The Set Of "10 Things I Hate About You"

I burn, I pine, I perish.

As you might recall, Julia Stiles famously starred in the 1999 classic (and highly quotable) rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You.

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Julia, looking extremely whelmed.

She starred opposite then-newcomer Heath Ledger, in one of the late actor's first big-screen roles.

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Heath, as you probably also remember, sadly passed away in 2008 at just 28 years old.

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Though he'd win posthumous Oscar for his terrifying turn as the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight, back in 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You was one of his very first movie roles.

Well, Julia recently told a tear-jerking story about filming one of the movie's most pivotal scenes, where her character Kat has a vulnerable moment reading a Shakespeare-inspired poem in front of her English class.

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"I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair,

I hate the way you drive my car, I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots and the way you read my mind,

I hate you so much it makes me sick it even makes me rhyme.

I hate the way you're always right,

I hate it when you lie,

I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you're not around and the fact that you didn't call,

But mostly I hate the way I don't hate, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all."

"I remember Heath Ledger was so gracious about the whole thing," she said during an appearance on the People In The '90s podcast. "I appreciate this so much more now having worked more."

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"He wasn't trying to compete with me. He stood back and he was like, this is your scene," she added, recalling how her character tears up while reading. "When they did his reaction shot, he didn't well up. He didn't go, OK, now I have to do something with my side of the camera.'"

Julia also had some deeply kind things to say about Heath's performance as bad boy Patrick Verona as a whole.

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"He had his amazing moments in the movie, too," she said. "But he was confident enough even just starting out to be like, I'm handing over the stage to you, and I learned way later in life that doesn't always happen."

In short, I don't hate this even a little bit, not even at all.

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