Class act: Julia Stiles 

A lot of kids would have no problem naming ten things they'd hate about switching schools. Not Julia Stiles, who happily transferred to help her career. By her sophomore year of high school in New York City, the actress was spending as much time on location as she was on campus. "My regular school didn't know what to do with me," says Julia, 18. "Then I got to go to Professional Children's School, which is a funny name, but it's a really good school. They have a whole program set up for dancers and actors and musicians who have to go to work." What about football games and homecomings that she missed? "People are always asking me if I feel like I haven't had a normal teenage life," says the star of 10 Things I Hate About You (and two other Shakespeare-based films, the upcoming O and Hamlet). "But I'm glad that I haven't. I think a lot of teenagers get really bored by the end of high school, and they're just like, 'I want something new.'" Right, like edible cafeteria food.

Originally published in the 1999 All Star Yearbook Special Issue of Teen People