Julia Stiles on Her ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ Character Kat

Julia Stiles is known as a former teen film queen — and perhaps her most famous character is Kat Stratford from 10 Things I Hate About You.

The smart, strong-willed high school feminist always spoke her mind and tried to avoid what others thought about her in the process. Stiles, 43, believes she’d still be doing the same today.

When asked where she thinks Kat would be now, Stiles told Vogue, “Hopefully, a lot happier out of high school. She’s either touring in a rock band or lives in a cabin in Costa Rica, makes her own sourdough bread, and has no screens around her. And, she’s totally surfing.”

Sounds right to Us!

In the 1999 coming-of-age film, Stiles and the late Heath Ledger played star-crossed lovers Kat and Patrick Verona, respectively. The pair reluctantly fall in love with each other amid a backdrop of high school angst. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Cameron James), Gabrielle Union (Chastity), Allison Janney (Ms. Perky), David Krumholtz (Michael Eckman), Larisa Oleynik (Bianca Stratford), Andrew Keegan (Joey Donner) and Susan May Pratt (Mandella) made up the star-studded supporting cast.

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The beloved 10 Things I Hate About You made its debut on March 31, 1999, and more than two decades later, fans are still talking about the romantic comedy. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger played star-crossed lovers Kat Stratford and Patrick Verona, respectively. The pair reluctantly fell in love with each other amid a backdrop […]

When recalling what it was like to work with Ledger — who died at age 28 on January 22, 2008, following an accidental drug overdose — Stiles said the Oscar winner was “such a bright light.”

“He was such an energetic, kind force. He was very magnetic, very charismatic, and we all had a great time working on that film,” she told Vogue. “I really am grateful that he was so kind to me. For my first experience being the lead in a big studio movie, and, particularly, in romantic situations, you have to really feel comfortable with the person that you’re acting opposite, and he very much made me comfortable.”

People are still as obsessed with their partnership and the Gil Junger-directed movie in general. Twenty-five years after its release, Stiles thinks fans still hold the film in high regard because “the writing was so good.”

“It was a really whip-smart team of female writers, Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith, who in many ways — like Kat Stratford — didn’t bend their wit, humor and observation to trends,” Stiles told Vogue. “They were very much pioneering, and they were like, ‘This is our personality and our sense of humor and that’s what the movie is going to be,’ and that authenticity, I think, is what audiences respond to.”

After the success of 10 Things, Stiles went on to star in Down to You, Save the Last Dance, O, The Prince and Me, and the Bourne Identity franchise. Nowadays, she’s a busy mom of three kids, whom she shares with husband Preston J. Cook, on top of being an actress, writer and director.

She recently released her directorial debut, the rom-com Wish You Were Here, starring Isabelle Fuhrman and Mena Massoud, and based on the 2017 novel by Renée Carlino.

Related: Julia Stiles Remembers What It Was Like Working With Heath Ledger

Julia Stiles is singing the praises of her 10 Things I Hate About You costar Heath Ledger years after his untimely death. “He was amazing,” Stiles, 43, exclusively told E! News in an interview published on Tuesday, January 14. “He was such a bright light.” While Stiles gushed that she and all of her costars […]

“I wanted to make a romantic movie that was really all about the human characters,” Stiles told Us Weekly about the project, which premiered on Friday, January 17.

She also admitted that being a mother was the best “training for being a director.”

“You have to be good at time management, you have to be a multitasker. You have to be present but also think 10 steps ahead. You have to be able to operate really well with sleep deprivation,” she joked.

The actress added that with both directing and parenting you must “manage people’s emotions and needs but also guide them,” concluding, “A hundred percent [it’s] the best training.”