It is 1999. High school feels like a battlefield where the only weapons are sharp wit and a Fender Stratocaster. Gil Junger directs a movie that shouldn't work—a modernized retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew set in a Seattle suburb. Yet, decades later, the characters from 10 Things I Hate About You aren't just nostalgic relics of the late nineties; they are blueprints for how to write ensemble casts with actual soul.
Most teen movies from that era leaned hard into archetypes. You had the jock, the nerd, the prom queen. While this film uses those skeletons, it dresses them in layers of genuine insecurity and specific, weird personality traits. Kat Stratford isn’t just a "rebel." She’s a girl who likes Thai food and feminist prose, protecting herself from a world she thinks is shallow. Patrick Verona isn't just a "bad boy." He’s a guy who’s been rumors-mangled by his peers and just wants to buy a guitar.
The Kat Stratford Paradox: More Than Just "Angry"
Kat is the sun around which the movie’s conflict orbits. Julia Stiles played her with a rigid posture and a defensive glare that felt like armor. Honestly, the brilliance of Kat as one of the central characters from 10 Things I Hate About You is that she isn't "tamed" in the traditional sense. In the original Shakespeare play, Katherine is broken down. In the film, Kat just learns to let one person in without losing her identity.
She reads The Bell Jar. She listens to Bikini Kill. She’s fiercely protective of her sister, Bianca, even when they’re screaming at each other about Prada bags. People often forget that Kat’s "bitterness" has a specific origin story. It’s revealed mid-movie that her cynicism comes from a past encounter with Joey Donner. She tried the "popular" route. She did what was expected. It sucked. That context makes her refusal to conform feel like a survival strategy rather than a gimmick.
The Patrick Verona Mythos
Heath Ledger’s Patrick is the stuff of legend, mostly because of that scene on the bleachers singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." But look closer at his character arc. He starts as a mercenary. He’s literally being paid to date Kat.
In a lesser movie, he would have stayed a caricature. Instead, we see him as someone who is tired of the mystery surrounding him. Did he eat a live duck? Did he spend time in San Quentin? Probably not. Patrick is actually one of the most honest characters from 10 Things I Hate About You, ironically, because he’s the only one who doesn't care about the high school social hierarchy. He’s the only one who sees Kat as a person rather than a "problem" to be solved.
Why Bianca and Cameron Matter
If Kat and Patrick are the heart, Bianca and Cameron are the engine. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Cameron with this wide-eyed, desperate sincerity that is almost painful to watch. He’s "the new kid," a role that usually gets sidelined. But Cameron is the catalyst. His obsession with Bianca—played by Larisa Oleynik—kicks off the entire plot.
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Bianca Stratford is perhaps the most misunderstood of the characters from 10 Things I Hate About You. At first, she’s the "shallow sister." She cares about her "un-whelmed" status. But Bianca has an iron spine. When she finally punches Joey Donner at the prom, it’s one of the most satisfying moments in cinema. She isn't just a prize to be won; she’s a girl navigating a strict father and a confusing social landscape. She realizes, eventually, that the "cool" guy is a vacuum and the "nice" guy is the one who actually learned French for her.
The Support System: Mandella, Michael, and Joey
You can't talk about the cast without mentioning the chaotic energy of the supporting players.
- Mandella: Kat’s only friend. She is obsessed with Shakespeare to a degree that is frankly alarming but also very relatable for any high schooler who ever found a "personality" in a specific fandom.
- Michael: Played by David Krumholtz. He is the quintessential frantic teenager. His friendship with Cameron provides the comedic timing that keeps the movie from getting too heavy.
- Joey Donner: Andrew Keegan’s Joey is the perfect villain because he’s so profoundly mediocre. He’s a model. He’s rich. He’s also an idiot. He represents the peak of the social pyramid that the other characters are trying to dismantle.
The Dad Factor: Walter Stratford’s Anxiety
Larry Miller’s portrayal of Dr. Walter Stratford is iconic. "I'm semi-retired!" He’s the obstacle, the man who makes the "no dating" rule. But unlike most teen movie parents who are either invisible or evil, Walter is motivated by pure, terrified love.
He’s an OB-GYN who sees the consequences of "teen mistakes" every day. His fear for his daughters is palpable. When he puts the pregnancy belly on Bianca, it’s hilarious, but it’s also a deeply human (if misguided) attempt to protect her. He eventually realizes that he has to trust the women he raised. This growth is rare for a "parent" character in this genre.
Scripting and Social Commentary
The dialogue is what truly separates these characters from 10 Things I Hate About You from their peers in She's All That or American Pie. It’s literate. It’s snappy.
When Kat tells a teacher, "The Hemingway line is out!" she’s engaging in a level of intellectual combat that most movies think audiences are too dumb to follow. The film respects its audience. It assumes you know who Sylvia Plath is. It assumes you understand the irony of a high school in a castle-like building (Stadium High School in Tacoma, which is a real place and looks exactly that Gothic).
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Realism vs. Trope
Despite being based on a 400-year-old play, the character motivations are grounded in 1990s reality.
- The pressure to get into a specific college (Sarah Lawrence for Kat).
- The performative nature of high school parties.
- The genuine fear of being "different" and the social suicide that comes with it.
Kat’s vulnerability in the final poem scene—where she’s actually crying—wasn't scripted to be that emotional. Julia Stiles has noted in interviews that the tears were real. That raw moment is why the movie works. It’s not just a rom-com; it’s a story about the terror of being seen for who you actually are.
What Modern Writers Get Wrong
If you look at teen shows on Netflix today, everyone talks like a 35-year-old therapist. They are hyper-aware of their "trauma" and "boundaries."
The characters from 10 Things I Hate About You don't have that vocabulary. They are messy. They make bad bets. They date people for money. They get drunk at parties and dance on tables. But they also have these flashes of profound insight that feel earned rather than lectured. They feel like people you actually went to school with, even if your school didn't have a giant stadium where Heath Ledger would serenade you with a marching band.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Writers
If you’re revisiting the film or trying to understand why it stays in the "Google Discover" zeitgeist every year, look at the construction of the character arcs.
Analyze the Power Dynamics
Study how the "cool" characters (Joey) lose power as they become more desperate for validation, while the "outcasts" (Kat and Patrick) gain it by simply existing on their own terms. It’s a classic subversion of the high school movie formula.
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Focus on Specificity
Don't just write a "rebel." Give them a specific hobby, like Kat's passion for indie rock and her "angry girl" music. Specificity is what makes a character universal. If Kat just "liked music," we wouldn't remember her. Because she specifically liked Letters to Cleo, we feel like we know her bedroom walls.
Watch for the Non-Verbal Acting
Pay attention to Heath Ledger’s eyes in the scene where Kat is reading her poem. He doesn't say a word. He just watches her. The characters in this movie are defined as much by their reactions as their lines.
Identify the Conflict
The primary conflict isn't just "boy meets girl." It’s "authentic self vs. social expectation." Every character, from the principal (Ms. Perky and her erotic novel) to the class clown, is struggling with how they are perceived versus who they are.
The staying power of the characters from 10 Things I Hate About You lies in their refusal to be simple. They are loud, they are quiet, they are "heinous" (as Bianca would say), and they are beautiful. They remind us that even in the hyper-controlled environment of a suburban high school, there is room for a little bit of Shakespearean drama and a lot of genuine heart.
To truly appreciate the nuance, re-watch the film focusing specifically on the background characters—the way the teachers interact, the way the "popular" kids are actually quite miserable, and how the "losers" are the only ones having any fun. That is where the real story lives.
Next time you're scrolling through a streaming service looking for something "new," remember that sometimes the old 1999 classics are the ones that actually have something new to say about how we treat each other. It’s not about the "hate" list; it’s about the fact that, despite everything, they stayed. And we’re still watching.
Practical Steps for Your Next Watch:
- Track the Shakespearean parallels: See if you can spot the names—Petruchio becomes Patrick, Lucentio becomes Cameron.
- Listen to the soundtrack: It’s a curated time capsule of the late 90s Pacific Northwest sound.
- Look at the costuming: Notice how Kat’s clothes soften as the movie progresses, moving from harsh blacks and greys to softer blues and greens. It’s subtle visual storytelling.