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Joseph Gordon-Levitt almost walked away from ’10 Things I Hate About You’

This news is (over)whelming.
August 18, 2020 1:25 p.m. EST
August 19, 2020 2:26 p.m. EST
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It’s difficult to imagine the characters in 10 Things I Hate About You being played by any other actors, but it turns out the cast of the iconic film could have looked a lot different. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Joseph Gordon-Levitt reveals that he almost walked away from the beloved teen film. We don’t like that idea. Not even close, not a little bit, not at all.JGL was part of Vanity Fair’s career retrospective series and talked about his career highlights, starting with his breakout role in the Robert Redford-directed drama A River Runs Through It all the way up to his latest release, the Netflix action film Project Power.In 1999, Gordon-Levitt famously starred alongside Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Gabrielle Union, Larisa Oleynik, David Krumholtz and Andrew Keegan in 10 Things I Hate About You, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. In the new interview, the self-described overly serious actor said at the time he was resistant to signing on to the teen romance and comedy.“I’ll be honest, I was not sold on doing 10 Things I Hate About You when I first read the script. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do one of these high school romantic comedies, I want to do serious movies.’ That’s all I wanted to do when I was that age. I was going to arthouse cinemas and watching movies coming from Sundance,” said Gordon-Levitt. The actor  revealed that many people in his life, including his agent, tried to get him to reconsider. Eventually, JGL relented, but his role as the lovable and lovestruck Cameron wasn’t a given.“I auditioned for two roles,” said Gordon-Levitt, who auditioned to play Cameron and best friend Michael, a role that was eventually played by Krumholtz. Michael’s character was the comedic relief in the film and JGL said that he was disappointed when he was offered Cameron’s role instead.“I was like, ‘ugh, ugh,’” remembers Gordon-Levitt with a smile. The actor, who was 17 at the time of filming, had a meeting with director Gil Junger and the writers, voicing his opinion on scenes and dialogue he felt was unrealistic or cheesy. “They listened, I think, to some of my ideas, but mostly I think I was probably just wrong and kind of being too serious about the whole thing. Luckily, I did do it. I did the part. I almost didn’t, but luckily I did,” said Gordon-Levitt, who admitted to being an overly pensive and thoughtful teen.Nominated for several Teen Choice Awards and acting as a breakthrough film for its stars, including Ledger, Stiles and Union, Gordon-Levitt said that the best part of the film was the experience off \-camera.“All of us had so much fun. I’m so glad that I did that movie, not only because it’s a movie that audiences still love, but because the experience is what I love the most about that whole thing,” he said. “We had such a good time. All of us hung out all the time.”
In 2017, Union posted a throwback picture of the fresh-faced cast and shared her own memories of filming, which reflect Gordon-Levitt’s reflections. “Just a bunch of kids having the time of our lives up in Tacoma/Seattle. First movie and an experience that I'll never forget. The best/coolest/most generous group of people to share my first film experience. What a time man,” wrote Union, who also paid tribute to the late Heath Ledger.
Gordon-Levitt shared the same picture earlier this year on the 21st anniversary of the teen film, writing “All of us were friends and spent so much time together that whole summer. Nothing but love for all the wonderful memories I had making that movie.” We love these throwbacks like we love our Prada backpack. [video_embed id='2011259']BEFORE YOU GO: Former Hollywood stylist ‘outs’ celebrities for being the worst to work with[/video_embed]

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