25 fun facts you didn’t know about your favorite teen movies

10 Things I Hate About You – A new twist on Shakespeare 

When you think of Shakespeare, a teen movie starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But 10 Things I Hate About You is, in fact, a modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew!

Thanks to her dad’s strict rules, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) isn’t allowed to go on a date unless her older sister, the angsty, political Kat (Julia Stile) starts dating. With help from her tutor Cameron (who wants to date her), she hires bad boy Patrick to sweep her moody sister off her feet. Kat’s a tough nut to crack at first, but soon enough, Patrick’s naughty charm starts to work on Kat, much to Bianca’s delight.

Throughout the movie, there are several references to the story’s Shakespeare origins. Bianca and Kat’s last name is Stratford, which is the birthplace of Shakespeare. Also, Bianca and Katherina are the names of two of the girls in the play.

Patrick’s last name is Verona, the birthplace of Petruchio, the character his role was inspired by. The high school the film takes place at is Padua High School, which is the city The Taming of Shrew is set in.

At one point in the movie, Kat nearly hits Michael (David Krumholtz) with her car, and he refers to her as “the shrew”. Last but not least, the title of the song “Cruel To Be King” performed by Letters To Cleo in the film, is a reference to a line in the play Hamlet, also written by Shakespeare.