10 Issues I Hate About You is a bonafide cult traditional movie, however star Andrew Keegan initially couldn’t predict its success.
“You’ll be able to’t, clearly, know that,” the 44-year-old actor, who portrayed aspiring mannequin Joey Donner within the 1999 flick, solely informed Us Weekly on Thursday, June 1. “It’s attention-grabbing as a result of, in fact, there are occasions the place individuals put that on the mission because it’s starting. I believe you’re simply within the second and also you’re not likely positive, fairly frankly.”
The seventh Heaven alum added that the teenager rom-com’s leads — Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles — have been additionally comparatively unknown actors earlier than the movie premiered. “The opposite factor too is, on the time, Heath had by no means carried out something within the States. And Julia had simply carried out a film that gained at Sundance or at some movie competition,” Keegan famous. “So it was Joey Gordon-Levitt and I that had something. And so there was a query [mark] too, like, ‘Yo … the place are, like, the names [that] they’re gonna put [on top of the poster]?”
10 Issues I Hate About You, which was written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah, was impressed by William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Very similar to the theatrical comedy, the film adopted sisters Kat and Bianca Stratford (performed Stiles and Larisa Oleynik, respectively) as they navigated highschool romances. Whereas Bianca was forbidden to this point till her older sibling did, new pupil Cameron James (Gordon-Levitt) concocted a scheme to ask out crush Bianca. He enlisted dangerous boy Patrick Verona (Ledger) to woo Kat in trade for money. Keegan’s Joey — who additionally had an curiosity in Bianca — was bankrolling the plan to be able to ask his dream lady to the promenade. The fan favourite movie additionally starred Larry Miller, Gabrielle Union, David Krumholtz, Susan Could Pratt, Allison Janney and Daryl Mitchell.
Andrew Keegan Rene Porto
“Gil [Junger, the director] and the writers as effectively have been very … keen to take such a danger on two actors that didn’t have the credentials on the time and it was determination. Clearly,” Keegan added on Thursday. “I’d say for me at the moment, I wouldn’t have thought that. I used to be identical to, ‘Effectively, who is aware of?’ However you’ll by no means know that 25 years later, individuals are simply nonetheless loopy about it — and a brand new technology too. There’s a variety of younger individuals which are like, ‘Oh, I watched the film.’”
One of many new 10 Issues followers is Keegan’s 7-year-old daughter, Aiya Rose, whom he shares with Arista Ilona.
“You realize, you possibly can’t resist,” the Damaged Hearts Membership star informed Us when requested about Aiya’s ideas on the movie. “She’s really actually humorous, like personality-wise, [and] she’ll throw me underneath the bus. [She tells people,] ‘My dad’s carried out 10 Issues I Hate About You.’ I used to be like, ‘It was cute the primary time, however you gotta cease doing that.’ … We have been simply on the passport workplace the opposite day getting a passport and the gal serving to [mentioned the movie] and so she’s been listening to individuals saying that to me. So, now she is aware of she will get underneath my pores and skin with it too.”
Whereas Keegan does get uninterested in his daughter’s 10 Issues I Hate About You references, he does fondly look again on his experiences on the set.
“The time that we acquired to spend collectively in Tacoma, Washington, was actually cool with this explicit group of actors,” the California native informed Us. “However the reminiscence that at all times involves thoughts, [is when] Heath had this Saab automotive and we’d drive to … some five-mile drive as much as the mountains and we’d take heed to Portishead. We’d be altering CDs and he’d be kind of the DJ and we’d smoke weed.”
Andrew Keegan and daughter Aiya. Rene Porto
He continued: “Listening to the nice music, hanging out with the nice couple guys — him and Trevor [Hall] — these sort of reminiscences [are] nearly, like, in a film the place you sort of look again and so they have like kind of a magical kind of mist round them. Like, there’s simply actually a particular time simply doing nothing specifically, however simply hanging out and, I assume, getting excessive.”
After wrapping 10 Issues, Keegan remained near Corridor — who continues to be his “finest buddy” right this moment — and Ledger. (The Brokeback Mountain actor died in January 2008 after an unintended overdose.)
“[After 10 Things wrapped], [Heath] got here again to L.A., which is absolutely after we spent a variety of time,” Keegan stated on Thursday. “He didn’t actually work for a yr … and we’d find yourself doing loads [of] hanging out daily. Like, ‘What are we doing right this moment? Simply hanging out,’ . I acquired to spend so much of excellent time with him in that first yr. However then he began working and it was, like, he was at all times someplace, so it was far more inconsistent.”
The Moesha alum, for his half, finally took a break from performing to give attention to elevating daughter Aiya and is now able to dive again into movie-making.
“I’m at a degree the place I’d relatively benefit from the expertise than really feel the necessity to work if I don’t need to. So now it’s extra that work is precise work and I’m able to be extra inventive and discover a good place to lend the talents, the expertise and all that enjoyable stuff,” he confessed to Us. “I simply get pleasure from life in a variety of methods [and] at this second acknowledge, like, she’s at an age the place she’s beginning to sort of do her personal factor. So, Daddy may have to do his personal factor.”
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With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
