Katie Holmes Almost Played This Iconic Role in '10 Things I Hate About You'

Wait, WHAT?? 10 Things I Hate About You is turning 20, and we're learning all kinds of new things about the iconic movie. But this latest news makes me SO conflicted: An article in The New York Times interviewed the casting director Marcia Ross, and apparently they loved Katie Holmes so much in the female lead role of Kat Stratford that they almost cast her. But Katie chose to begin working on Dawson's Creek, so Julia Stiles went on to star in the role. And now I don't know how to feel.

"I loved Katie Holmes," Marcia Ross said. "She was about to get Dawson’s Creek and we had to make a decision really fast." Small world—Katie would go on to act alongside Michelle Williams, who would go on to have a relationship with 10 Things star Heath Ledger. 

ALSO, Kate Hudson was up for the role, too, apparently. "The other person I loved was Kate Hudson. But her mom [Goldie Hawn] didn’t like the script for her, so she passed," said Cross. WHAT.

Soooo now I'm imagining all the possibilities if either of these two actresses played the role. Katie—I can't really see it, honestly. I feel like Kat required a grittiness and an anger that I don't see much in Katie's roles (and yes, Katie did play "edgy" in films like Disturbing Behavior, but I never really felt like it was the right fit for her. Yes, I'm nerdy, what of it?). Although it would have made for a killer end resolution, though. I actually feel the same way about Kate Hudson, and considering she was a big leading lady in the early 2000s, directors thought so too—most of the roles she got tapped into her America's Sweetheart vibe.  

I am SO confused. How should I feel about the news?

In the end, though, I am so so glad that Julia Stiles ended up playing Kat. She was my angsty teen spirit animal, and her tearful poem towards the end of the film gets me. Every. Single. Time.

ICONIC.

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