Julia Stiles honored her late friend and costar Heath Ledger during a “Dedication Night” performance on Dancing With the Stars this week, and confirmed that she asked for Michelle Williams’s permission ahead of time.
When asked by Extra what Heath’s family would “think of tonight,” Julia said, “I can’t speak on that. I can’t. I did ask Michelle if this was okay. And she said yes. And yeah, I don’t really want to speak for them, sorry.”
Julia also told Extra that the week was “transformative” for her, and that Ezra Sosa was “sensitive” to what she was going through emotionally and helped her open up in the dance.
The actor spoke about what the performance meant to her during Tuesday night’s episode, saying, “I learned a lot from Heath. He was so authentic. I have so many great memories, but I'm also sad because I really wish I could pick up the phone and be like, ‘Hey, dude. People really care about that movie. We did something special.’”
She added, “What came up for me a lot in this dance was remembering who I was at 17 years old and who I am now. We were so playful back then.”