The Story: Meet the Stratford sisters: pretty and popular Bianca (Oleynik), who has never had a date; and Kat (Julia), her older sibling, an ill-tempered harridan whose acerbic wit is matched only by her steadfast determination to alienate any guy who might be remotely interested in her. Unfortunately, strict rules in the Stratford household forbid Bianca from having a boyfriend until her odious sister has one of her own - a situation that seems highly improbable considering Kat is a social disaster. Bianca's desperation for romance turns into a convoluted scheme to match Kat with her male equivalent - a guy whose reputation is so infamous, Kat might rise to the challenge and find him worthy of her concealed charms. Mating mayhem ensues when Patrick Verona (Ledger), a sullen young man with a mysterious past, is bribed by Bianca's wannabe boyfriend (Keegan) to woo and win Kat, in order to clear the way for Bianca to begin dating.  
"One of the things that attracted me to the script is that Kat is one of the few female roles that isn't defined by a man. She goes through a huge change throughout the course of the movie and that's a great challenge as an actress." "Kat is definitely a positive role model for women. She's opinionated and isn't afraid to express her thoughts. She's assertive, intelligent, very independent and strong-willed. The story says that it's okay for a woman to be like that." "Gil (Junger, director) and I both agreed that she (Kat) is not necessarily a shrew per se, but she is maybe a little crass at times just because she responds poorly to her high school environment. She's kind of a fish out of water. Eventually, Patrick brings out the best in her." "Heath is a great actor and I respect him and there is some interesting chemistry between us." "Stadium High School is amazing. It is so gothic looking. If we made the movie in Los Angeles, it could have looked just like twelve other movies." "Seeing him (Heath) sing the song and dance on the steps is so endearing that, it basically makes me swoon." "I like the (blue prom) dress a lot. It makes me feel like Ginger Rogers." "The thing I love about Gil is that he's very upbeat and energetic and he keeps everyone really relaxed and lively. The best thing about him as a director is that he's very direct and honest. He'll tell you exactly what is wrong and exactly how you can fix it. I appreciate that a lot." "I read 'The Taming Of The Shrew' in ninth grade. I didn't like the way the teacher was teaching it, and I got into an argument with her, which is similar to a scene in the movie. I always found myself expressing my opinion a lot and people always misinterpreted that as being bitchy, and that always really bothered me."
Alternative poster art:
Did You Know? David Krumholtz's character, Michael, has a scene involving an hilarious motorcycle ride. A trained stunt man actually performed the ride down the slope, but Krumholtz did the riding in the parking lot. Having never even ridden a bicycle before, Krumholtz took riding lessons for two weeks prior to filming with the motorcycle. Despite this preparation, the motorcycle got away from him during shooting and Krumholtz drove into the camera crew and the stunt man! Fortunately no one was hurt. Larissa Oleynik plays the role of Alissa, who is Jospeh Gordon-Levitt's on-screen girlfriend in 3rd Rock From The Sun Director Gil Junger has an uncredited cameo as a teacher Andrew Keegan appeared with Julia in O, and Larry Miller, who plays the Stratford girls' father, appears with Julia in A Guy Thing Shakespearian references abound in 10 Things - Stratford, the sisters' surname, is Shakespeare's birthplace (Stratford-upon-Avon); Verona, Patrick's surname, is the birthplace of Petruchio, the equivalent character in Shakespeare's play; Padua High School is named after Padua, the town in which the play is set The song originally scripted for Patrick to serenade Kat across the football field was "I Think I Love You' by the Partridge Family. Casting directors auditioned over 200 actors for each of the eight major teenage roles in the film. Most of the cast, including Julia and Heath, were relative unknowns at the time Julia won the 2000 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Female, and the 2000 Most Promising Actress at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for her role as Kat
View the trailer here Read Kat's poem at writer Kirsten Smith's website - have a look at the rest of the site while you're there! |
