An Ode To Julia Stiles, Film’s Ultimate Relatable Teen Heroine

Last night Julia Stiles walked the red carpet at the New York premiere of her new film, The God Committee. MailOnline has called the forty-year-old actress, who looked fantastic in a black dress with white polka dots, 'unrecognisable'. Personally, I don't see it. To me, Julia Stiles is still very recognisable, still making quality work in both film and television spheres, and still very much the film starlet of my youth.

It took something special to stand out in the oversaturated teen movie market of the late 90s and early 00s, but whatever 'it' was, Julia had it. I don't think we can exaggerate what she meant to cinema-goers of a certain age, of a certain type. Somehow, as she danced her way to Juilliard or ugly-cried her way through a so-called sonnet, she was all of us.

Rewind to 1999. Julia had been a working actress for six years, picking up credits in TV shows like Ghostwriter and Chicago Hope and a Cyndi Lauper music video. But she became internationally recognisable when 10 Things I Hate About You landed in cinemas. A smart, sharp reimagining of William Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, the teen comedy centred around two sisters - Bianca, the popular cool girl, and Kat, the edgy outsider - who are wooed in parallel by several of their high school cohorts. The film catapulted Heath Ledger, his ice white teeth and Australian accent, onto the walls of young women all over the world. But if he was the film's heart, Julia was its brain. She delivered pithy one-liners. She was intelligent and worldly and well-read. She was respected by the adults and feared by her peers. And, most importantly, she was prepared to let down her shields when someone special entered her orbit.

Kat, with her love of rock music and Sylvia Plath, could have been a one-dimensional film cliche. Julia gave her depth. You never question why Heath's Patrick would fall for this free-spirited and strong, yet vulnerable, young woman. But her presence also never condescends to the audience. Teenagers of the time were used to being told to relate to the stars on the screens before them. We were asked to suspend our belief and ignore the fact that the so-called teenagers walking the high school halls had 5 o'clock shadows. We were convinced that the nerdy girl in the corner was a walking disaster, even though she was a clear knockout (She's All That, for example, was released mere weeks after 10 Things I Hate About You). But Julia was a bonafide teenage girl while filming this breakout hit and, crucially, looked like one. She would have looked completely at home, unremarkable even, in my own school corridor. That's probably the initial basis of her appeal: of all the on-the-rise young stars of her time, she felt like one of us. I wonder if teenagers of the late '80s felt the same when they saw Winona Ryder in Heathers.

In the years that followed, Julia continued to establish herself as the go-to actress for reimagined Shakespeare adaptations. She played Ophelia to Ethan Hawke's Hamlet, and Desi in O, a college-based adaptation of Othello. On the stage, both roles are highly sought. Ophelia, in particular, is considered one of the greatest parts in theatre history for young actresses. Julia made both her own. Her portrayals were sophisticated and intelligent, ensuring that her versions of Ophelia and Desdemona could never be labelled as mere romantic interests or sidekicks of the leading, tragic heroes. In her hands, they became the most fascinating characters in the two films. Her Ophelia is particularly impressive and wholly underrated.

The Bard, then, can be seen as having had an indirect hand in Julia's rise. But she did not rely fully on him. If 10 Things I Hate About You stands out as the most iconic role of her career, it surely ties with Save The Last Dance. If you weren't around in 2001 - hello fellow kids! - then you truly cannot fathom how influential and impactful that film was. Julia played Sara, a teenage girl grieving the loss of her beloved mother as she joins a new school and dreams of a career in dance. When she meets and falls in love with the charming Derek, she finds joy in her life once more and, armed with a new approach to her craft, achieves her life's ambition. In truth, this film has not aged as well as 10 Things I Hate About You, which holds up remarkably. Watching as a fourteen year old I, and many of my peers, found her blend of her classical dance training and Derek's own moves to be contemporary and exciting. Now, it feels like she repurposed Black culture and presented it as her own innovation. Her final performance seemed fresh and oddly moving. Watch it back and you'll wonder how on earth she got into Juilliard. But my earlier points still stand: Julia gave real power and gravity to Sara's emotional arc. Perhaps her performance is all the more impressive for making us blind to her dancing.

There were a few more 'young woman finding herself' roles left in her career. She was actually completely winning in the otherwise schlocky The Prince and Me. She was compelling opposite Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst in Mona Lisa Smile. And then, she did what all young actors must do: she grew up. She was decent, if underused, alongside Matt Damon in the Bourne franchise. She did her best horror outing in The Omen and gave a solid turn in Dexter. She has since popped up in Silver Linings Playbook, playing the sister of someone I see as her spiritual successor: Jennifer Lawrence. She held everything together in Hustlers, reminding the audience that Constance Wu's Destiny's story was just one side of a multifaceted narrative. And she has been a watchable heroine in two (soon-to-be three) seasons of Riviera. Does she have the career I think she deserved? No. I wonder if she would have an Oscar on her mantelpiece if David O'Russell had come up with Silver Linings Playbook a few years earlier, or if she had been given the chance to get her teeth into the kind of roles that Michelle Williams or Anne Hathaway clinched instead. But shoulda woulda coulda. I'm sure she has no regrets: she can look back on a career that meant something significant to people.

Julia Stiles got her first screen credit almost 30 years ago. In that time, she has had many, many roles and enjoyed a level of success that few jobbing actors would dream of. But her greatest achievement? Showing a whole generation of teenagers that they had someone real, someone authentic, someone smart, representing them in the crowded market of Hollywood's rose-tinted, high school perfection. And for that, I think a whole lot of people will be eternally grateful.

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