���10 Things I Hate About You’ Writers Say Heath Ledger Was “Fixated” On His Costume for the Serenade Scene

Everybody over the age of 30 with good taste knows that the height of romance was Heath Ledger singing Frankie Valli in 10 Things I Hate About You. So fans of the classic teen rom-com will be happy to hear that the young Ledger—then still an unknown actor in America—wanted to make sure everything about that serenade scene was absolutely perfect.

“He was fixated on picking the perfect costume for the serenade scene,” 10 Things co-writer Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith said in a recent interview with Decider, in honor of the movie’s recent 25th anniversary. “It was really important to him to get that right.”

For those who don’t remember, Ledger’s character, Patrick (a modern-day spin on Petruchio from William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew) was paid by his high school classmates to take out the meanest girl in school, aka “the shrew,” Kat (played by Julia Stiles). She’s resisted his advances thus far—but Patrick has a special trick up his sleeve.

In the ultimate romantic gesture, Patrick surprises Kat by interrupting her soccer practice with a live performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli, complete with accompaniment from the high school marching band.

Even Kat can’t resist the charms of Ledger defiantly singing Frankie Valli, dancing around the bleachers while campus security attempts to drag him away. It’s a scene that went down in the romantic comedy history books, and no doubt inspired many a prom-posal over the years.

In the scene, Ledger wears a white button-up shirt with a navy jacket over top. It’s nothing particularly flashy, but, according to Smith—who co-wrote the film with her longtime writing partner Karen McCullah—those clothes were carefully selected by an “extremely creative, focused, and detailed” Ledger.

“I think he nailed it, because you don’t really think about Patrick’s costumes or clothes,” Smith said. “You just focus on him.”

With charisma like that, it’s hard not to focus on Ledger. The Australian actor went on to a critically acclaimed Hollywood career in movies like Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight, before his tragic death at the age of 28 from an accidental overdose in 2008. But 10 Things I Hate About You was his break-out role in America.

Smith recalls first meeting with Ledger after he’d been sent the script, and suggesting he audition for the part of Cameron, which ultimately went to a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

“I remember saying, ‘You should read for Cameron, he’s a new guy [at school.] And he’s like, ‘No. I am Petruchio.’ Like, very seriously,” Smith said with a laugh. “He’s like, ‘I’m not the new guy. I’m Petruchio.’ He had a very clear perspective.”