The ’80s are commonly associated with the teen film boom because of the popularity of John Hughes and The Brat Pack, but the ’90s had its fair share of teen-centric cinema. “Romeo + Juliet,” “Clueless,” “She’s All That,” and “American Pie” are just a few examples of the decade’s cult-classic films that focus on teenagers and all the drama they inevitably produce. For the entire decade, it seemed audiences couldn’t get enough of adolescent angst, but not all of Hollywood’s young actors were on board with the trend.
In 1999, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a perfect choice for the next teen rom-com. He was fresh-faced, adorable, and he had an established presence on a popular sitcom. Unfortunately, he wasn’t interested in doing a teen movie. “I was not sold on doing ’10 Things I Hate About You’ when I first read the script,” He told Vanity Fair. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to do one of these high school, romantic comedies. I want to do serious movies.'” Gordon-Levitt explained he was more interested in deep, insightful films. “When I was that age, I was going to art house cinemas and watching movies coming from Sundance, and watching ‘Sling Blade’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ and Soderbergh and Tarantino,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to do.”
Although I’m a big fan of ’90s teen films, it’s a fact that the genre doesn’t appeal to many critics and most of the movies are a far cry from the intellectual art Gordon-Levitt was seeking. Because of this, he initially passed on auditioning for “10 Things I Hate About You,” but people in his inner circle saw the film’s potential and convinced him to audition.
