Actress Julia Stiles wowed millions of American TV viewers with a poignant performance in honour of the late Australian star Heath Ledger.

Stiles, who starred opposite Ledger in the 1999 rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You, revisited a favourite moment from the movie on US TV’s Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday night (local time).

Stiles and her professional dance partner, Ezra Sosa, performed a contemporary routine to Frankie Valli’s 1967 hit Can’t Take My Eyes Off You for the show’s “Dedication Night”.

It’s the same song that Ledger’s character serenaded Stiles’ with in the movie.

In the film, Ledger and Stiles played high-schoolers Patrick Verona, a bad boy, and Kat Stratford, an anti-social feminist. Kat is set up with Patrick by her younger sister Bianca, who can start dating only when Kat does.

“I really feel how important it is to honour him,” Styles said 27 years after the release of the movie.

“He lives on because his performance in that film was so incredible.”

The chemistry between Ledger and Stiles was at the heart of 10 Things, sparking speculation of a real life romance between them. But it never went anywhere.

In 2021, director Gil Junger revealed that Stiles had actually had another on-set romance – with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played Cameron, Bianca’s love interest.

“They were very, very attracted to each other,” he said.

Junger said Stiles was thinking of Gordon-Levitt when she cried during the film’s climactic scene, where Kat reads a poem out loud in class in which she confesses her love to Patrick.

That scene was replayed in Tuesday’s DWTS. As Stiles’ monologue played in lieu of music and a still from the film took over the screen at the back of the room, Sosa left her alone on the dance floor and she put a rose underneath the image.

She then linked arms with several of her other former cast members, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, Larisa Oleynik, Susan May Pratt, and Andrew Keegan.

Stiles scored four 9s on the routine, among the highest of the night.

“Watching you, it just makes me want to open my heart,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba told Stiles.

Ledger was 19 when 10 Things I Hate About You was filmed. He died at the age of 28, in January 2008, from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

In 2009, he won the best supporting actor posthumously for his role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight. Ledger was also famous for roles in A Knight’s Tale and Brokeback Mountain.

Dancing with the Stars, now in its 35th season in the US, is watched by about six millions Americans every week.

“I’m dedicating this dance to Heath Ledger,” Stiles, 45, said in a clip posted to TikTok on Monday.

“Making 10 Things I Hate About You with him was such a special moment in time. It’s amazing that people still care about that movie, and it’s just sad that we can’t celebrate it with him.”

Ledger and Stiles (with Allison Janney) in 10 Things I Hate About You. Photo: AAP

Earlier, Stiles, told People magazine she was surprised at how emotional she had found preparing for the performance.

“I know, watching the show, how emotional Dedication Night is. It’s always very personal stories. But I thought, ‘Oh, I’m distanced enough from it. The movie was so many years ago’,” she said.

“But something about watching clips from that movie, seeing our pictures, hearing our voices is bringing up a lot.”

“I did not expect to cry. We did it in one or two takes,” she said.

“But when we were done and they were going to turn the camera around and get his coverage, he didn’t try and compete. He said, ‘This is your scene and I’m just handing it over to you’.”

In 2025, Stiles told E! News that Ledger was “such a bright light”.

“We all had such a good time and were close on that set, and he just walked into the room and lit it up,” she said.

Ledger was survived by his daughter, Matilda. She is now 21.