Joseph Gordon-Levitt celebrates 22 years of '10 Things I Hate About You'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 3/31/21

On March 31, 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You hit theaters and began its trajectory toward certified cult classic, and on the 22-year anniversary Wednesday, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in a nostalgic mood.

"'10 Things I Hate About You' came out today, March 31st, back in 1999," the 40-year-old actor captioned an Instagram photo. "I'll never forget that summer, making that movie with such wonderful people. The best of times. Still can't believe it was over 20 years ago."

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A post shared by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (@hitrecordjoe)

10 Things I Hate About You was loosely based on Shakespearean play The Taming of the Shrew —directed by Gil Junger, co-written by Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith—and made Heath Ledger a leading man for the first time as the high school heartthrob Patrick Verona.

Gordon-Levitt's character, Cameron James, is the new kid at Padua High School, and he immediately develops a crush on the popular Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), but the Stratford sisters are infamously not allowed to date. Bianca's older sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), is nowhere near as popular, so their father implements what he believes to be the surefire rule that Bianca can only have a boyfriend if Kat has one, too.

Cameron becomes Bianca's French tutor, and the two hatch a plan to set Kat up with Patrick. Ultimately, after several relatable speed bumps, the two couples live happily ever after.

Ledger went on to become a bonafide movie star, lauded for his role in Brokeback Mountain and cemented in cinema history for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight. The Australian was found dead at just 28 years old in January 2008 due to an accidental drug overdose. He was posthumously awarded an Oscar for his work as The Joker.

The 10 Things cast spoke fondly of Ledger for a New York Times story around the film's 20th anniversary in March 2019.

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