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    Home»Money»Details You Missed in ’10 Things I Hate About You’
    Money

    Details You Missed in ’10 Things I Hate About You’

    Press RoomBy Press RoomOctober 4, 2025No Comments11 Mins Read
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    2025-10-04T13:31:01Z



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    • “10 Things I Hate About You” is now streaming on Netflix.
    • The film jump-started the careers of stars Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
    • The movie contains many little details that you might’ve missed, including nods to Shakespeare.

    In fair Seattle, where we lay our scene, it’s time to take a look back at “10 Things I Hate About You,” one of the best ’90s rom-coms — and an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy “The Taming of the Shrew.”

    “10 Things” isn’t the only adaptation of this work — most famously, the ’50s musical “Kiss Me Kate,” the ’60s western “McLintock!,” and the 2003 rom-com “Deliver Us from Eva” are all based on the saga of Katherine, Bianca, Petruchio, and Hortensio. Season two of “Bridgerton” also gave shades of “Shrew” — one of the main characters is even named Kate.

    Now that this classic is officially on Netflix, here are some behind-the-scenes secrets, goofs, and references you might not have caught on your first (or 40th) viewing.

    Many of the main characters’ names in the film are based on the characters of “The Taming of the Shrew.”


    10 things i hate about you kat stratford 1

    Julia Stiles in “10 Things I Hate About You.”


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Kat (Julia Stiles) and Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) have the same names as in the play, and Petruchio gets changed to Patrick (Heath Ledger).

    Lucentio, on the other hand, gets switched to the way more common Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), which is probably a nod to the fact that Lucentio disguises himself as a Latin tutor named Cambio. Cameron tutors French in the film.

    The obnoxious Joey (Andrew Keegan) is a combination of Hortensio and Gremio, though there is also a Joseph in “The Taming of the Shrew.”

    Some of the characters’ last names are nods to places in the Shakespeare canon.


    10 things i hate about you patrick verona 1

    Heath Ledger in “10 Things I Hate About You.”


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Bianca and Kat’s last name is Stratford, as in Stratford-upon-Avon, the hometown of Shakespeare himself.

    Patrick’s last name, Verona, is a nod to the Italian city where Petruchio comes from in the play. Fair Verona is also famously where Shakespeare set “Romeo and Juliet.”

    The name of the school, Padua High School in Seattle, is a reference to Padua, Italy, where the play takes place.


    padua high school

    The sign reads Padua.


    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    “The Taming of the Shrew” is the only play of Shakespeare’s that takes place in Padua, though Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing” says he’s from there.

    The Shakespeare nods continue throughout. Kat’s best friend, Mandella, has a huge crush on the playwright.


    shakespeare 10 things i hate about you

    Mandella’s dress.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Mandella’s locker is covered in portraits of the playwright, and Michael, Cameron’s friend, played by David Krumholtz, eventually gets her to go to prom with him by writing her a secret note signed “William S.”

    Mandella is played by Susan May Pratt.

    The theme of Padua’s prom is “Blasting Into 2000,” complete with a poster turning the school into a rocket.


    padua prom sign

    The prom sign.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    “10 Things” was released in March 1999.

    Guidance counselor Ms. Perky’s office is covered in posters for a Romance Novel Writers Conference in the Pacific Northwest.


    romance novel sign

    The sign in Ms. Perky’s office.


    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    It makes sense — in both scenes she appears in, Ms. Perky is simultaneously doing her job and working on an erotic novel.

    Ms. Perky is played by future Oscar and Emmy winner Allison Janney. This film premiered six months before she began playing CJ Cregg in “The West Wing,” her breakthrough role.

    Cameron directly quotes “The Taming of the Shrew” after seeing Bianca for the first time, declaring, “I burn, I pine, I perish.”


    cameron saying i burn i pine i perish

    A quote from Shakespeare.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Lucentio, Cameron’s analog in the original play, confesses his love for Bianca to his friend Tranio in act one, scene one.

    Cameron declares his love for Bianca to Michael around five minutes into the film.

    In Mr. Morgan’s classroom, there’s an entire bulletin board display about England, Shakespeare’s homeland.


    england sign in mr mitchell's room

    The sign advertising England.


    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    Note that student with the mohawk in the back room — he’ll pop up again.

    Kat describes herself as “tempestuous.” Of course, one of Shakespeare’s most famous works is “The Tempest.”


    tempestuous 10 things i hate about you

    Kat gets sent to the guidance counselor’s office.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Ms. Perky corrects her by telling her that other students actually call her “heinous.”

    One of the cliques that Michael calls out is the cowboys and they take their roles seriously. They’re even eating canned beans in the background of one scene.


    cowboys eating canned beans 10 things

    The cowboys.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    They also rock huge belt buckles and 10-gallon hats.

    After Kat almost runs him over, Michael calls her “the shrew.”


    just a minor encounter with the shrew

    It’s a nod to the play.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    It’s one of two references to the title of the play.

    Later on in the scene, Michael also uses the word “rampallian,” which is a burn worthy of Shakespeare — he uses the word in “Henry IV, Part 2.”


    rampallian 10 things

    A Shakespeare-worthy insult.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Merriam-Webster defines rampallian as “a good-for-nothing scoundrel.”

    The other reference to the play’s title comes from Patrick, who asks if Michael and Cameron will help him “tame” Kat.


    taming of the shrew

    This scene takes place in shop class.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Side note: Kat’s really not that bad … definitely not “wild beast” level.

    Kat asks Mr. Morgan why they can’t read any female authors like Sylvia Plath. Later on, she takes matters into her own hands and reads Plath’s novel “The Bell Jar” at home.


    the bell jar 10 things

    Kat loves female authors.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    In another scene, you can spot Kat reading “The Brontës: Three Great Novels,” a compilation of three of the Brontë sisters’ most famous works: “Jane Eyre,” “Wuthering Heights,” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”

    One of the film’s low-key antagonists is Bogey Lowenstein. He kicks Michael out of the future MBAs and even nails a teacher in the head with a golf ball.


    bogey lowenstein

    Bogey is perhaps the film’s true villain.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    In order to get revenge, Michael turns Bogey’s sophisticated wine and cheese night into a house-destroying rager. It’s his party that Kat, Bianca, Joey, Cameron, Michael, and Patrick all attend.

    Even though Bogey’s full name is said plenty of times, Joey still mistakes his last name for “Lowenbrau” instead of Lowenstein.


    bogey lowenbrau

    He’s not the most considerate.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Joey repeatedly messes up Bogey’s name, which, of course, shows how little respect he has for everyone else around him.

    When he messes up Bogey’s name to Bianca, her face betrays that maybe she doesn’t think Joey’s all that.

    Even though Patrick claims that everyone is afraid of him, he does have one friend who is by his side in biology, the shop, the gym, and, as we spotted earlier, English class.


    patrick's one friend

    He’s played by Greg Jackson.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Although his name is never said out loud, according to the credits, he’s called Scurvy.

    Cameron and Bianca hang out at this strange statue under a bridge during one scene. It’s a real statue you can visit called the Fremont Troll.


    fremont troll 10 things i hate about you

    The Fremont Troll.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    It’s located under the Aurora Bridge in Fremont, a neighborhood in Seattle.

    When Cameron and Bianca go into Kat’s room to snoop, there are plenty of nuggets to glean from her decor.


    kat's room

    Kat’s room.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Just a few of the posters visible: posters for Ednaswap (best known for the original version of “Torn”), “RockCrown” by Seven Mary Three, “Whirlygig” by the Lovemongers, and “Mr. Funny Face” by Sprung Monkey.

    Sprung Monkey’s song “Get ‘Em Outta Here” can be heard in the film.

    The biker bar that Patrick hangs out at, the Buckaroo Tavern, was a Fremont landmark.


    buckaroo tavern

    The Buckaroo Tavern.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    It closed in 2010, after 72 years of serving the neighborhood.

    The band that Kat and Mandella go to see at Club Skunk is actually Letters to Cleo.


    letters to cleo 10 things i hate aboout you

    Letters to Cleo.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    The band performs their songs “Come On” and “Co-Pilot.” They also have two songs on the soundtrack, covers of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” and Nick Lowe’s “Cruel to Be Kind,” which they perform at prom with Save Ferris.

    Right before Bogey’s house gets totally trashed, he assumes the doorbell is ringing because Nigel has arrived with the Brie — he’s not wrong!


    nigel with the brie

    It really was Nigel with the Brie.


    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    It’s very easy to miss, but the first person in the door is poor Nigel and his plate of Brie. He’s swept into the house with the rest of the party-crashers.

    Two guys appear to be doing the “Night at the Roxbury” head movement in matching hats at Bogey’s party.


    night at the roxbury

    This would’ve been a topical reference.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    “A Night at the Roxbury,” a film based on the popular “SNL” sketch starring Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, was released the year before, in October 1998, making it a pretty topical reference at the time.

    Their outfits seem to be a reference to another “SNL” duo, the Blues Brothers. Their movie “Blues Brothers 2000,” starring Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman, was also released in 1998.

    The song “Cruel to Be Kind” plays throughout the film. It’s a reference to a different Shakespeare play, “Hamlet.”


    cruel to be kind

    Letters to Cleo at prom.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    “Cruel to Be Kind” first plays on the radio while Patrick drives Kat home from the party. Letters to Cleo then performs it at prom.

    The actual “Hamlet” quote is “I must be cruel only to be kind.”

    Mr. Morgan raps part of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 141,” which is seemingly relevant for all of our main characters.


    mr morgan the sonnnet

    Mr. Morgan quoted Shakespeare.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    The sonnet is all about loving someone for who they are inside, not for their beauty or how they try to make themselves appear to other people.

    Kat and Patrick learn not to judge each other by their steely exteriors, Cameron learns to love Bianca because of her personality, not her looks, and Bianca chooses Cameron, who’s a bit dorky, over the handsome yet horrible Joey.

    Mr. Morgan then assigns the class to write their own sonnets in the style of Shakespeare, leading to the titular list of things Kat hates.

    A poster that hangs in Mr. Morgan’s classroom is a quote by Gamaliel Bailey, a famous journalist and abolitionist.


    mr morgan quote

    It’s an appropriate sign for Mr. Morgan.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Bailey was the editor of “The National Era,” an anti-slavery newspaper.

    Mr. Chapin takes a beating during this film — he gets nailed in the head by a golf ball and then shot in the behind with an arrow by Bianca.


    soccer coach keeps getting beat up

    Poor Mr. Chapin.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Chapin is also the girls’ soccer coach and the detention supervisor. He’s the teacher whom Kat flashes to help Patrick sneak out of detention.

    A book Patrick walks by in the bookstore is “10 Stupid Things Men Do to Mess Up Their Lives,” written in the same style and font as the movie title. Kat then walks by the female version.


    the books

    The poster looks the same at the two covers.


    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    These are both real books written by radio host Laura Schlessinger.

    When trying to encourage Patrick, Michael quotes another Shakespeare sonnet, “Sonnet 56,” by saying “Sweet love, renew thy force.”


    shakespeare quote

    Another Shakespeare quote.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Patrick, predictably, hates it.

    The detention sign-in list is filled with nods to the film’s crew.


    detention list

    The detention list.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    The list includes Max Chernov, whose father, Jeffrey, produced the film, his assistant Chuck Rapp, production assistant Hope Garrison, unit production manager Ross Fanger, and first assistant editor Brett Carroll.

    Of course, Patrick’s name is on there, too.

    Towards the end of the film, it’s shown that Cameron has continued using the French book that Patrick drilled a hole through.


    french textbook

    That’s commitment.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    Even though there’s a perfectly circular hole through his entire textbook, Cameron has continued using it to tutor Bianca in French, a language he does not speak.

    Another real band is shown at prom, Save Ferris, which, in turn, is named after the ’80s classic teen film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”


    save ferris

    Save Ferris.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    This is both a nod to Kat’s taste in music and the iconic teen films that paved the way for “10 Things.”

    During the end credits, as the camera zooms out from Patrick and Kat, you can spot two kids getting into a fight in the parking lot.


    10 things fight

    They’re in the bottom left.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    This school loves a fight. Maybe it’s the same kids who crash through the glass doors at Bogey’s party.

    Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s name is wrong in the credits.


    the credits

    He’s third in the credits.


    Buena Vista Pictures

    The hyphen is mistakenly between Joseph and Gordon, not Gordon and Levitt.

    As a bonus, if you want to see some grade-A bloopers, watch the credits through to the end.

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