Julia Stiles has already proven her dancing chops.
But 25 years after acing her Julliard audition in Save the Last Dance, she’s pirouetting into a new style. And as she prepares to step into the Dancing With the Stars ballroom alongside pro partner Ezra Sosa, she knows she’ll have millions of eyes on her.
Right now, though, her husband Preston Cook and their three children, Strummer, 8, Arlo, 4, and a baby they welcomed in 2023 are her first audience members.
“They see me dance every day and every night in my kitchen and in the living room,” Stiles exclusively told E! News of her children after casting for DWTS’ season 35 was announced Sept. 2. “They’re like, ‘Oh there goes Mommy again.’”
In fact, her kids have even become dance partners—whether willing or unwilling, she didn’t say—by proxy when Sosa isn’t around.
“Sometimes I pick them up and I’m actually practicing the dance holding them,” the Bourne alum added. “And my husband will just stand there and I kind of twirl around him.”
But while her family is getting a sneak peek at what she has in store, the 45-year-old conceded that the onscreen result “in the outfits and the heels and in that ballroom” will soar beyond that of her at-home spinning.
Yet, despite Stiles’ experience dancing onscreen as Sara in Save the Last Dance, she admitted DWTS comes with its own set of challenges.
“That’s the crazy thing,” she said. “This is the first time I’m not hiding behind a character, or like a script. This is me. It’s not Sarah, it’s not any of the other characters I’ve played. It’s just Julia.”
And Sosa is thrilled he’s been chosen as the 10 Things I Hate About You star’s partner.
“I feel so lucky,” he said. “The moment she walked in the door I literally could not even believe that she signed on to do this show. But just the fact that she is such a fan of the show makes it that much more special, and I just feel so lucky.”
Plus, if he and Stiles get far enough into the competition, he teased that fans may get to see some resurrected dance moves from Save the Last Dance.
But, the 25-year-old warned, “You’re going to have to vote. You think we’re just going to whip it out week one? That’s cute.”
For more on this season’s Dancing With the Stars celebrity-pro pairings, read on.
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The Love Island UK alum is hoping her love for DWTS doesn't betray her as she manifested this experience.
"I have a vision board and I redo it every year," she told E! News in May. "This year is the first year that I stayed at home by myself on New Year's Eve. I did not go out at all. I made myself a bowl of pasta and a glass of red wine and I redid my vision board for the year. Dancing With the Stars was already on it from the year before. However, I added five more Dancing With the Stars on the board."