Characters from the film 10 Things I Hate About You.
open/close all folders
Students
Kat
Katerina "Kat" Stratford (Julia Stiles)
"You forget, I don't care what people think."
The elder Stratford sister, whose antisocial and surly behavior keeps the other students at arm's length. As her beauteous little sister Bianca can't date until she does, the boys at school plot for her to date Patrick. The film's equivalent of Kate Minola.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the play, Kat(e) was abusive to her sister and tutors, and had no problem slapping Petruchio when he tried to woo her. While presented as tempestuous here, she's not violent (mostly, she apparently performed a Groin Attack on a guy but he was trying to grope her so, self defence) and all this behaviour is given a massive Freudian Excuse. She's also much kinder to her sister, all things considered.
- Character Development: Her time with Patrick allows to learn to let go of her painful past with Joey, and be happy again, as well as develop a better relationship with her sister.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Kat, reputed as a 'heinous bitch', slowly warms up over the course of the film, to the point that as she reads her poem at the end, she's reduced to tears towards the end.
- Does Not Like Men: Kat, in keeping with the original, won't deign to date the "unwashed miscreants" at the school. It's eventually subverted, however.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason Kat has an antisocial and ill tempered personality is because she once went out with Joey in secret, and even had sex with him, but she told him that she wasn’t ready, Joey dumped her.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: Kat squees when she receives mail from Sarah Lawrence and sees that she got accepted.
- Insult Backfire: She's visibly pleased when Ms. Perky tells her that she's often referred to as a heinous bitch in an attempt to correct her behavior.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She comes across as a jerk to almost everyone due to what happened between her and Joey in the backstory. She refuses to let Bianca date Joey or to date anyone seemingly just so Bianca can't. She's still a good person under it all and Bianca sees Kat's point eventually about Joey. Of course, her good side comes round full-circle when she decides to go to the prom just so Bianca can attend and have a good time.
- Parking Payback: Kat's least favourite person parks his shiny new sports car behind her, in the middle of the road. This is, itself, illegal and done specifically to annoy her, but Kat takes it a bit too far when she backs right into him, destroying the side.Walter: 'Whoops?' My insurance does not cover PMS!
Kat: Well then, tell them I had a seizure. - The Snark Knight: Kat doesn't pass any occasions to lash out at people and when there are no targets, she focuses on herself.
- Soapbox Sadie: She's quick with a speech about one injustice or another. She's not wrong but has tendency to miss other issues she's not involved in and even her best friend sometimes get a little tired of the constant stream of it.Kat: Don't think of it like that. We're making a statement!
Mandella: Oh goody! Something new and different for us! - Took a Level in Kindness: Kat becomes nicer when she agrees to go to the prom so that Bianca can have her dream date.
Bianca
Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik)
"I happen to like being adored, thank you."
Kat's pretty and popular younger sister. The film's equivalent of Bianca Minola.
- Accidental Misnaming: In the space of a few lines when Bianca first speaks to Cameron, she gets his name wrong twice, calling him Curtis and Calvin. He corrects her the first time, but not the second.
- Adaptational Jerkass: She was The Ingenue in the original, with only vague hints that she was putting on an act to please her father. Here she has no problem manipulating Cameron to get what she wants, or abandoning her best friend for the same reasons. Of course, she's still called out on it and matures over the course of the story.
- Attention Whore: Kat implies early on that Bianca is one.Bianca: Where did you come from? Planet "Loser"?
Kat: As opposed to Planet "Look At Me, Look At Me"? - Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Michael makes Bianca out to be one at the start of the film — acting cute and pretty, but secretly proud and manipulative.
- Character Development: She goes from typical shallow and conceited popular girl, who wants to date guys like Joey and wants nothing to do with her less popular older sister, to a more mature and thoughtful young woman, especially when Kat reveals to her about her past relationship with Joey.
- Dude Magnet: The guys at school are falling over themselves to try and date her, were it not for her Boyfriend-Blocking Dad and shrewish sister.
- Heel Realization:Cameron: Have you always been this selfish?
Bianca: ...Yes. - It's All About Me: At first. Best exemplified early on when she says, "Can we just focus on me for a second, please?" She drops it after Cameron calls her out on her behavior.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Cameron has this view towards Bianca, hence the lengths he goes to get her. He gets a rude awakening at the party when she darts off to hang with Joey, and he starts seeing and treating her more like a person. For her part, she also recognizes how shallow she had been.
- Took a Level in Badass: Bianca, at the prom, after she finds out about Joey's bet and his involvement in the Kat plot. Much to the bemusement of the other characters.Kat: Bianca beat the hell out of some guy.
Walter: Bianca did what?!
Kat: What's the matter, upset that I rubbed off on her?
Walter: No... impressed. - Took a Level in Kindness: Bianca improves her attitude when Cameron points out what a bitch she has been. From then on, she is more polite, sincere, and less manipulative.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Bianca lays Joey out at prom for "making my date bleed", among other things.
Patrick
Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger)
"Ooh, see that, there. Who needs affection when I have blind hatred?"
A bad-boy student who is recruited to date Kat. The film's equivalent of Petruchio.
- Above the Influence: A minor version, as Patrick was taking care of a very drunk Kat at the party but she had seemed to sober up by the time they got home. They started to connect in the driveway and she leaned in for a kiss, only for Patrick to back off. She was annoyed and storms off, but it's the first implication that Patrick was starting to like her and feeling guilty for the payoff.
- Adaptational Heroism: Petruchio of the original play resorted to several forms of Gaslighting and abuse to 'tame' the eponymous shrew. Patrick is initially paid to go out with Kat, but treats her very decently, looks out for her when she goes a little too wild at a party and falls in love with her for real.
- Bad Guys Play Pool: Just to reinforce his badassitude, Patrick is shown smoking and playing pool in a bar before Cameron comes to tell him how to impress Kat.
- Disappeared Dad: Implied with Patrick, as he tells Kat he lived in Australia with his mother until he was ten, without mentioning his father.
- Does Not Like Spam: Kat tells Patrick to tell her something true about himself, so he tells her he hates peas.
- Extreme Omnivore: Subverted. One of the stories going around about Patrick is that he apparently ate a whole live duck, save for the beak and feet. The story turns out to be untrue.
- The Grovel: After getting Kat so royally pissed off at him that she won't speak to him, Patrick is instructed to "sacrifice yourself on the altar of dignity and even the score." No actual groveling is involved - Patrick opts for a marching-band-assisted rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" in the middle of her soccer practice instead - but the effect is the same, especially as it also nets him detention.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Subverted with Patrick, specifically the jerk part. He's a loner and more than a bit abrasive about the whole bet thing, but as it turns out much of his reputation is just rumors.
- Only in It for the Money: Patrick admits this to Cameron and Michael early on about the bet. This attitude soon changes when he starts falling for Kat, and when Kat finds out about the bet, Patrick says he didn't care about the money.
- Pretty Boy: Patrick's prettyness gets lampshaded in the movie.Cameron: And Kat likes pretty guys.
Patrick: Are you saying I'm not a pretty guy? - Shrouded in Myth: Patrick Verona is supposed to have eaten a live duck, sold his liver on the black market for a new set of speakers, lit a State Trooper on fire, known Marilyn Manson, slept with a Spice Girl (he doesn't think so) and been a porn star, among other things. Kat has a bit of a reputation too. Amusingly, when they discuss this later, it turns out the only thing that's actually true is Kat pulling a Groin Attack on a guy who tried to grope her in the lunch line.
- Stalking is Love: Patrick goes to pretty great lengths to follow Kat around. When he follows her into a bookstore and claims to be looking for a copy of The Feminine Mystique, she shuts him down by pushing him away with that very book.
- Troubled, but Cute: He is an abrasive loner PrettyBoy.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Patrick tells Cameron this when Cameron wants to call the plan off because Bianca seems to prefer Joey over him at that point. Patrick tells him, "Joey is not half the man you are."
Cameron
Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
"You know, just 'cause you're beautiful, that doesn't mean that you can treat people like they don't matter."
A new student who quickly develops a crush on Bianca. Along with Joey, he is the counterpart of Bianca's various suitors.
- Decoy Protagonist: The film follows Cameron as the main character before the introduction of Kat and Patrick.
- Failed a Spot Check: Cameron doesn't notice the hole Patrick has drilled in his French textbook. It makes for a funny moment when he finally does notice.
- Military Brat: His father is in the army, which is why he Really Moves Around.
- Nice Guys Finish Last: Cameron uses him having "learned French for her" as an argument why Bianca should have been nicer to him and not run off with the jerkish Joey.
- Really Moves Around: The guidance counselor notes at the beginning that he's had nine schools in ten years.
Michael
Michael Eckman (David Krumholtz)
"The last party I went to was at Chuck E Cheese. You want to talk about some fun? That’s a good time!"
A student who befriends Cameron.
- Beta Couple: He hooks up with Kat's best friend Mandella with little fanfare.
- I Meant to Do That: Michael, on his scooter, swerves out of the way of an oncoming truck and careers down a grassy hill towards the sports field. After he falls off, he gets up, sees the crowd up at the top and cheers with his arms in the air, invoking this trope.
- Sarcastic Devotee: Michael to Cameron, thinking that Bianca isn't worth his effort at first.
Joey
Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan)
"Now, this is really important, okay? Which [modeling photo] do you like better?"
A wealthy student who funds the plot for Patrick to date Kat so he can date Bianca. Along with Cameron, he is the counterpart of Bianca's various suitors.
- Accidental Misnaming: In the scene after the doctored flyers for Bogey's party are distributed, Joey calls him Bogey Lowenbrau while talking to Bianca.
- Cool Car: Joey's sports car, a red Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (the Z28 badge can be seen when Kat dents it). He proudly drives it around the parking lot to get girls.
- Compensating for Something: Joey's expensive sports car is implied to be to cover up the Teeny Weenie.
- It's All About Me: Joey has this attitude. It's this that causes Bianca to realize that Cameron is the better guy and that Joey doesn't really care about her.
- Jerkass: Joey makes a bet with his friends that he can get his way with Bianca whether she wants it or not, even trying to do so after she has realized Cameron is better than him, and we later learn that he dumped Kat after she told him that after they slept together, she wasn't ready to do it again.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Both the Stratford sisters give him exactly he deserves.
- For parking in the middle of the road, right behind Kat's car to annoy her, Kat delivers instant karma by reversing into Joey's car, denting it.
- Also, when Bianca finds out from Chasity about Joey's ultimate aim to have his way with her on prom night, and now knowing about what he did to Kat in the past, she furiously attacks him, even kicks him where it hurts. The next scene where we see Joey, his face is bruised all over.
- Narcissist: He can't seem to stop thinking or talking about himself in front of Bianca and after she agrees to go to Bogey's party with him, he smiles and winks at his reflection in his locker mirror.
- Prince Charming Wannabe: Double-subverted with Joey. At first, though, Bianca is attracted to him and wants to be with him instead of Cameron. The trope comes into play starting at Bogey's party when Bianca realizes Joey is extremely self-absorbed, and that Cameron is the better guy of the two, and eventually results in Bianca snapping at Joey at the prom after she finds out from Chastity that Joey only wanted to get with her because of a bet he made with his friends.
- Teeny Weenie: Joey apparently has a small penis. Kat threatens to reveal this to the cheerleading team if he tells anyone that he slept with her.
Mandella
Mandella (Susan May Pratt)
"Oh goody! Something new and different for us!"
Kat's best and only friend.
- Beta Couple: She hooks up with Cameron's friend Michael with little fanfare.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She is obsessed with Shakespeare to the point of pretending she's going out with him.
- Foil: To Chasity. While Chasity is Bianca's treacherous best friend, Mandella is a loyal friend to Kat.
- Satellite Character: Until she hooks up with Michael at the end, the only things we know about her are that she's Kat's best friend and is obsessed with Shakespeare.
Chastity
Chastity Church (Gabrielle Union)
"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be under whelmed, but can you everjust be "whelmed"?"
- Alliterative Name: Chastity Church.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Chastity reveals her true colours at Bogey's party when she goes off with Joey afterwards (Bianca even calls her a bitch after that happens), then shows up at the prom with Joey seemingly just to rub it in Bianca's face that Joey was going to nail her after the prom all because of a bet with his friends.
- False Friend: Although she starts off as the best friend to Bianca, she betrays her first by taking her date (Joey) after he dumps her, then rubs Bianca's face in it afterwards by revealing that he dated her only over a bet with his buddies in the first place.
- Token Black Friend: The only black character in the main cast of students, and her role is to be the bestie to one of the main characters.
Adults
Walter
Walter Stratford (Larry Miller)
"What are the two house rules? Number one, no dating 'til you graduate. Number two, no dating 'til you graduate."
The Stratfords' single father, a successful obstetrician. The film's equivalent of Baptista Minola.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Walter compared to his Shakespearean counterpart Baptista. In the original, the agreement that Katherina must marry before Bianca does is partly born out of the societal laws of the time. In this film, he's a Boyfriend-Blocking Dad who just doesn't want his daughters to date until they graduate - and tries to stop Kat from going to her dream college because of his clinginess. Until his Heel–Face Turn at the end that is.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: He expressly forbids his high school-aged daughters from dating. It's not an issue for the asocial Kat, but it is for the popular Bianca. As an OB he has seen a lot of unwanted teen pregnancies and doesn't want this fate to befall them.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: True, he may want what he feels is best for Kat and Bianca, but he does it by essentially not wanting them to grow up and have their own lives and doing what they want, coming across as an overprotective jerk in the process. He still loves them, though, and despite not wanting Kat to attend Sarah Lawrence, at the end he does allow her to do so, and is impressed when he learns Bianca beat the hell out of Joey.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: In addition to hang ups from whatever resulted in the girls' mother being a Missing Mom, Walter's an obstetrician who's apparently very familiar with the worst case scenario for letting teens date. He also does so largely because he's afraid they can't handle themselves, and is actually impressed that Bianca punched out Joey at the prom.Walter: Kissing isn't what keeps me up to my elbows in placentas all day!
Ms. Perky
Ms. Perky (Allison Janney)
"I'm sure you won't find Padua any different than your old schools. Same little ass-wipe shit-for-brains everywhere."
The guidance counselor.
- Dirty Old Woman: The middle-aged guidance counselor who writes erotica on the clock.Ms. Perky: Judith! What's another word for "engorged"?
- Flipping the Bird: Miss Perky gives someone who throws something at her window while she's talking to Cameron the finger, establishing her as not your typical guidance counselor.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Miss Perky has several memorable scenes early on, interacting with the other major characters, and with her own recurring joke about writing an erotic novel but disappears from the movie entirely a third of the way through.
Mr. Morgan
Mr. Morgan (Daryl Mitchell)
"Someday, I know you're gonna be bitchslapped, and I'm not gonna do a thing to stop it."
Kat, Joey, and Patrick's English teacher.
- Cool Teacher: Mr. Morgan seems perpetually annoyed with his class, but he has a lot of passion and is very upfront with his students. Most notably, he turned one of Shakepeare's sonnets into a rap, inspiring Kat. "I know Shakespeare is a dead white guy, but he knows his shit."
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he is justified in finding Kat, Joey, and others painful to teach, one time he kicks Kat out of class when she makes it clear she approves of the assignment because he assumes she's making fun of him. However, his comments do have some truth to them.
