10 Things I Hate About you 15th anniversary Reunion Q/A Part 2!!: http://t.co/r9sE6FleaH 😀 — Kory (@moviedude18) November 17, 2014
In front of a packed house of more than 200 at 11:59 PM last Friday night, actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Krumholtz, Andrew Keegan, and Susan May Pratt came together to celebrate fifteen years of 10 Things I Hate About You–a late-1990s high school comedy based loosely on William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
The pre-screening question and answer session featured the slap-happy actors, as well as screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith–and it felt like nothing short of a high school reunion of old friends.
On filming, actor David Krumholtz, who flew in from New Jersey just for the reunion, told the audience at the Nuart Theater in West Los Angeles, “the movie was like summer camp…and the group of actors hung out every single night.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who of all the actors at the reunion has achieved the most success since 1999, explained that the camaraderie they exuded while filming “never happens” amongst cast members, which ultimately made for such fantastic chemistry on screen.
The actors, now all in their mid-thirties, shared off-set anecdotes involving gratuitous cannabis use (which eventually became legal in Tacoma, Washington, where 10 Things was filmed), a group-outing to see the Beastie Boys in concert on their Hello Nasty tour, and rehearsing the famous penis-on-face drawing on Krumholtz by Keegan.
Eventually, the talk turned to a discussion of the fellow castmates who weren’t present at the reunion.
Although mention of Julia Styles was sparse, Larisa Oleynik offered a heartfelt email to be read to the crowd explaining her absence–she had lost her wallet and ID the night before in New York City and was unable to board a plane to California.
The most sincere moment of the evening by far was when the actors recalled their experiences with the late Heath Ledger, whose North American film career began with playing the mysteriously hilarious Patrick Verona in 10 Things.
On working with Ledger, Keegan told the crowd that “he was such a magical character, I’ve learned so much and was so inspired, having the opportunity to spend so much time [with Heath].” Krumholtz shared that even though Heath arrived at the set two-weeks later than the rest of the cast that he “ingratiated himself” to everyone, and was “the de-facto leader of the group.”
Gordon-Levitt related how Ledger was quick to tease on set, and “knew how to play with you in such a way.”
After asking Keegan, clad in a fedora and a cape, about what other 1990s films he wanted to have a cast reunion, he admitted, “just this one, great to see everybody back together, connecting, remembering, experiencing shooting the film. We had a great time.” Likely as good of a time as the fans had all for the price of $11, one fan in the crowd joked that she would have paid $100 to share the room with the teen film idols.
Around thirty minutes after midnight, 10 Things I Hate About You began to play to the cheers and applause of the crowd. At 2:00 AM, as the credits began to roll, Joseph Gordon-Levitt put on a baseball cap and slyly escaped through the back exit like Batman. Or in his case, Robin.