Principal photography began on Touchstone Pictures' 10 Things I Hate About You, in Tacoma, Washington, at a three-story craftsman home with of view of Puget Sound in the historic North End neighborhood.

Production soon moved down the hill to Stadium High School, the main location for the film. The film's story is set at fictional Padua High School. The filmmakers found a most unusual and perfect location for the primary set of the film-an actual high school that looks like a castle!

"The toughest part of this picture was moving up to Seattle with only six and half weeks before we had to start shooting. We had already set the movie up once in Los Angeles and then we had to set it up again in the Northwest to accommodate this great school that we found," says executive producer Jeffrey Chernov.

"Once we saw the photos that were sent to us from Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington we thought we'd shoot some exteriors there," says Lazar. "But when we actually visited Stadium High School, we ended up realizing that we really needed to shoot all our locations there. We saw the water and the magic of this place-shooting in the Pacific Northwest is like a dream come true. The high school and the locations have really become a character in the movie."

"When I came up here to figure out the exteriors," remembers Junger, "I literally stepped off the van onto the school courtyard and I said `we're shooting the movie here.' I knew the European storybook quality about the building would be perfect for the film."

"We started walking around and chills went up and down our spines. It was more impressive than the pictures," remembers Lazar. "We started looking out the windows and it's surrounded by water and it has this incredible stadium. It was actually the first high school in America to ever have a stadium. There is so much value to shooting up here production-wise when you look out the windows of these places-we knew we had to make it work."

"Stadium High School is amazing," says Julia Stiles. "It is so gothic looking. If we made the movie in Los Angeles, it could have looked just like twelve other movies."

"We knew that the school was unique and that architecturally it had everything we needed to help tell the story," adds executive producer Jeffrey Chernov. "But we wanted to be very careful that people didn't think that we just found some great building and didn't really sell the fact that it is, indeed, a high school. We did several shots to incorporate the interior and the exterior so that people will know it isn't a trick. We have shots that start inside the school and come out the front door into the courtyard and vice versa to show that this is truly, inside and out, a high school."

"The look of Stadium High School really fits the movie. The whole thing is kind of fairy tale-ish and surreal," adds Joseph Gordon-Levitt. "The school really lends itself to that because when I first saw the school, I said, `This is not a high school.' I attended a Los Angeles public school and many L.A. public schools look like jails. This is like a castle. It fits perfectly with the fairy tale feel of the movie."

Overlooking the Cascade Mountains, on a cliff above the shores of Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington, rises a beautiful, brick castle-like building that houses Stadium High School.

In 1891, the Northern Pacific Railway began construction on the French-chateau style structure intending it to be a dream tourist hotel. Financial failure halted work on the project two years later and the building was used as a warehouse while waiting for a time when the interior could be completed.

Fire destroyed all but the shell of the building in 1899. Demolition had just begun on the structure in 1903 when the Tacoma School Board came to the rescue. Wrecking crews were stopped and the school board purchased the building for $34,500. Architect Frederick Heath converted the facility into the new Tacoma High School, which opened on September 10, 1906.

Four years later the natural gulch next to the building had been graded into a stadium bowl with a commanding view of Commencement Bay. It was the first stadium in the United States and it has hosted countless football games, Fourth of July Celebrations, and has been the site for speeches by such celebrities as Teddy Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding. John Philip Sousa's band has also performed in the bowl. In 1913, the name of the school was changed to Stadium High School and the building is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The unusual geography and architecture of the stadium bowl inspired filmmakers to expand several scenes.

Patrick's romantic serenade of Kat takes advantage of the spectacular setting by placing his song and dance-and attempt to woo the scorned Kat-high on the bleachers while Kat watches from soccer practice below as the school's marching band accompanies Patrick with the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," originally recorded by Frankie Valli.

"We thought the lyrics were really appropriate not only because they share an embarrassing moment, but also because they are romantic and really trying to tell more of the story than just the moment," says Chernov.

"Between the choreographers and me," says Ledger, "we kind of played with it. We wanted a bit of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire influence. It was totally choreographed and then I just made it sloppy."

"Seeing him sing the song and dance on the steps is so endearing that, it basically makes me swoon," says Julia Stiles.

The forty-five degree grassy slope leading from the school's parking lot to the football field inspired a hilarious motorcycle stunt near the beginning of the film. David Krumholtz's character, Michael Eckman, is riding through the parking lot when his motorcycle is bumped by a car and sails over the curb and down the steep embankment towards the football field a hundred yards below. A trained stunt man actually performed the ride down the slope, but Krumholtz did the riding in the parking lot. Having never even ridden a bicycle before, Krumholtz took riding lessons for two weeks prior to filming with the motorcycle. Despite this preparation, the motorcycle got away from him during shooting and Krumholtz drove into the camera crew and the stunt man! Fortunately no one was hurt.

The entire cast enjoyed shooting at Stadium High School. Having attended high school overseas, Heath Ledger found the little details particularly amusing. "In Australia we always see American high school movies and they always have yellow school buses. I just didn't think they really had yellow school buses until I came over here and saw them for myself," laughs Ledger.

After finding the movie's key location in Tacoma, the script was altered to place the story in Seattle, Washington-the most recognizable city in the Pacific Northwest, also known for its thriving music scene, which becomes a story point in the film. After six weeks of filming in Tacoma at the high school as well as the Stratford Family home, the filming company moved north for three weeks of location shooting in Seattle.

The Padua High School Prom was filmed at Seattle's Century Ballroom as well as at the restored Paramount Theatre. The prom sequence was shot over three 90+ degree days in Seattle. Many strange looks were received from gridlocked drivers as they watched almost 300 extras cross the street near Broadway on Capital Hill at 7:30 a.m. in full prom regalia including corsages, which were melting in the heat.

Costume Designer Kim Tillman designed original dresses for Larisa Oleynik and Julia Stiles as well as the period outfits for Susan May Pratt and David Krumholtz. Gabrielle Union's snakeskin prom dress is a Betsy Johnson. Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's vintage tuxes came from Isadora's in Seattle.

"I like the dress a lot," says Stiles of her blue evening gown, "it makes me feel like Ginger Rogers."

The filmmakers selected the California-based band Save Ferris to provide the music for the prom. A nightclub scene filmed at Pier 70 on the Seattle waterfront features the Boston-based musical group Letters To Cleo.

10 Things I Hate About You marks the feature film directorial debut of Gil Junger. Junger spent the two weeks prior to the start of filming rehearsing his actors. "To find the magic in the scenes, I like to rehearse in the actual locations where I plan to shoot. The process helps the actors be more comfortable and it helps me to be more efficient. I don't storyboard scenes, so actually going to the locations helps me work out the scenes in my head."

Andrew Keegan appreciated the rehearsal period; "It gave us a lot of time to develop good characters and their little personality traits. When we started shooting, we knew exactly what we were going to do. We had a great time and it helped develop our chemistry."

"My approach is to rehearse the actors until they are performance ready, shoot two good takes and move on," says Junger. "It is T.V. style but I believe there is a level of diminishing returns in doing take after take. It has to be different to keep it exciting."

The cast unanimously adored their director. "He's so smooth and switched on," says Heath Ledger. "His comic timing is fantastic."

"The thing I love about Gil is that he's very upbeat and energetic and he keeps everyone really relaxed and lively," adds Julia Stiles. "The best thing about him as a director is that he's very direct and honest. He'll tell you exactly what is wrong and exactly how you can fix it. I appreciate that a lot."

"Gil kept us in high spirits all the time. He has got a lot of energy and when he really gets excited about a take, you know it, which is really nice," adds Larisa Oleynik.

"Gil is a jokester and he likes to keep everything really light. But he's also an actor's director. Everything he tells you is right on the money and you use everything that he tells you," agrees Gabrielle Union. "He cuts to the chase and you get things done relatively quickly, which is nice. He knows what he wants and he gets it. He knows exactly how to get it out of you and how to get the best shot possible."