Julia Stiles Cries in DWTS Rehearsals Ahead of Heath Ledger Tribute

By Elena Vasquez

Julia Stiles is rehearsing a "Dancing With the Stars" tribute to Heath Ledger — and it is already reducing her to tears. The performance airs Oct. 20 on ABC.

"I was crying in rehearsals today," Stiles said Thursday at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards in Los Angeles. "It's so crazy."

Stiles and her professional partner Ezra Sosa will dance to Frankie Valli's 1967 song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" during DWTS Dedication Night. The song choice carries direct weight: in the 1999 film "10 Things I Hate About You," Ledger's character serenades Stiles with that same track.

Why is the performance so emotional?

Stiles said she had underestimated the impact of revisiting the material.

"I know that Dedication Night is emotional, but I thought I was distanced from it enough. Like, oh, it was so many years ago," Stiles said. "Something about seeing clips from that movie and images and hearing my voice and hearing his voice is bringing back so many memories. It's a lot."

Ledger died in 2008. His performance opposite Stiles remains one of the defining roles of his early career.

The actress framed the tribute as a statement about what performers aim to achieve.

"One of the things that I'm taking away from this dedication is one of the things that we really hope to do as performers is to make people feel something and have people care about the work that you do, and his memory lives on because it was such an incredible performance," Stiles said.

In plain words: she sees the routine as proof that Ledger's screen work still moves audiences decades later.

Why did Stiles join the show now?

Stiles revealed that DWTS producers had asked her to compete "for the past couple of years" before she agreed. The deciding factor was a birthday.

"I think it was turning 45," she explained. "I was like, 'I'm halfway to 90! Why not? It's now or never.'"

She said she knew the season would test her: "I knew that there were going to be emotional hurdles that I'm going to have to get over on this show, like getting over my own nerves, finding my love of performing again, being able to dance in front of an audience, all these things."

Then she deadpanned: "I was like, 'Yeah, maybe I should tackle that in front of millions and millions of people.'"

Stiles turned 45 this year. That means producers courted her across roughly two seasons before she signed on.

The takeaway: a milestone birthday, not a choreography ambition, pushed her onto the ballroom floor.

What happens on Oct. 20?

Dedication Night places Stiles' Ledger tribute in front of a live national audience on ABC. Her routine with Sosa will pair Valli's 1967 recording with film footage and audio from "10 Things I Hate About You," elements she says triggered tears in the rehearsal studio.

The broadcast will show whether a routine built on a 26-year-old film scene can carry its emotion from the studio to the ballroom.