Julia Stiles usmagaqizne was more than just Larisa Oleynik’s onscreen sibling in 10 Things I Hate About You. The actress revealed she looked up to Stiles like a sister in real-life.
Oleynik, 42, shared how much she admired Stiles’ “cool” aesthetic and fashion sense while the pair shot the fan-favorite film, which premiered 1998. Stiles portrayed Kat Stratford and Oleynik played Bianca Stratford. “I really, really wanted her approval,” Oleynik told The New York Times in Stiles’ cover story, published on Wednesday, April 3. “I remember thinking, ‘If Julia approves [of my dress], I can go [to prom].’”
Oleynik gushed that her blue Fred Segal slip dress unintentionally resembled the silky number Kat donned in the movie’s prom scene.
Stiles’ Kat teamed the look with a matching shawl, a pearl necklace and curly updo. Bianca, for her part, looked trendy in a cropped pink T-shirt and a low-waisted tulle skirt. She accessorized with a sparkly necklace and fuschia purse.
Elsewhere in the interview, Oleynik opened up about another similarity she shared with Stiles’ character. “Kat’s probably why I went to Sarah Lawrence,” Oleynik said, adding she didn’t think students had “seen” the movie when she attended. To her surprise, she found a number of fans. “It’s because [Kat] resonated so much,” she told The New York Times.
Stiles previously opened up to Us Weekly about her love for 10 Things I Hate About You in 2019. “I have so many great memories from that movie that are fading, because it has been 20 years,” she admitted to Us. “But it was just such a special time where we were all so excited.”
She continued, “It was exciting and we were all very young and nobody was jaded so we were all very open to the experience and to each other.” It was just a really, really fun summer.”
The movie follows Cameron James (Gordon Levitt) as he tries to date Bianca. However, because of her father’s strict dating rules, Bianca is not allowed to have a boyfriend until Kat does. The two plot to pay Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to take Kat on a date.
