Whatever Happened To Julia Stiles?

If you ask someone to name their favorite living Shakespearean actors, you're likely to hear a lot of names like Denzel Washington, Judi Dench, and Kenneth Branagh. For many millennials, however, we first came to know the works of the Bard through a cycle of teen movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, films that translated the perennially-famous stories to high school settings. There was "Romeo + Juliet" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, of course, but perhaps no other actor became associated with those movies more than Julia Stiles.

The year 1999 brought us "10 Things I Hate About You," which was based on "The Taming of the Shrew." In 2000, she starred in a version of "Hamlet" opposite Ethan Hawke that reimagines the play as a corporate thriller. Finally, in 2001, she was in an "Othello" adaptation called "O," back when there was no one in Hollywood more stunning than Josh Hartnett. Stiles remained a staple of the aughts, starring in hits like "The Prince and Me," "The Bourne Identity" and its sequels, "Mona Lisa Smile," and "The Omen." After her well-received arc on "Dexter" in 2010, however, many people lost track of one of the biggest stars of her generation.

There's a whole genre of internet clickbait that wants you to think she's returned to living a normal life. "She was a star, now she works in Massachusetts," says one viral ad, paired with a makeup-free photo of Stiles. That's not true, though; her career is still going strong. Here's what happened to Julia Stiles.

Netflix revolutionized television when it moved into original streaming shows in 2013, launching hits like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black" to major acclaim. They weren't the first to make TV for the internet age, however. In fact, the year before Netflix entered the game, Julia Stiles starred on a web series called "Blue." The show was named after her character, Blue, a single mother who also has a hidden life as a sex worker. Like other shows of that era — "Weeds," for example" – it was all about how far the main character went to make sure her family didn't find out about her side gig.

Stiles told GoPride that at first, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to move into online acting. "I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't know really how the programming on YouTube would develop," she said. "But I was intrigued also by the idea because I thought this is kind of the wave of the future and the way that people watch shows more and more, you know on their devices and on the computer."

While "Blue" didn't get the numbers that shows on Netflix would, the series eventually ran for three seasons. Stiles herself even picked up a best actress award from the International Academy of Web Television, and her foresight kept her working during a time of major upheaval in the industry.

In 2014, Julia Stiles worked on a film called "Blackway." It was on that set that she met Preston Cook, a camera operator who would become the love of her life. They began dating, and in 2015 they collaborated again on "Jason Bourne," yet another installment in the "Bourne Identity" series. That year, on Christmas Eve, they got engaged while on vacation in Colombia. Stiles appeared on "Live with Kelly!" the following year and told Kelly Ripa, "I'm so in love, and I'm so happy ... It was a full moon, it was, we were on a tropical island. It was amazing. He's a really good man, and I found him!"

That same year, Stiles told People that she was in no rush to head down the aisle, instead preferring to enjoy her engagement. "We're really slow on the wedding planning so I haven't really been soliciting advice," she explained. "Somebody told me about radical empathy, but I'm still trying to figure out what that means."

In 2017, however, Stiles and Cook did indeed rush to get married, because Stiles was pregnant. She shared a photo on Instagram of her now-husband's hand on her pregnant belly, looking lovely in a lace wedding dress. Alongside the post, she wrote, "Who doesn't love a shotgun wedding?" She paired the caption with a winky emoji.

If you lost track of Julia Stiles after "Dexter" and you'd long-since given up on the "Bourne" movies, you likely next encountered her when she starred in the 2019 film "Hustlers." The raucous thriller told the story of a group of exotic dancers led by Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, playing strippers who found themselves caught up in a life of crime after they realized how easy it was to steal from the men they danced for. Stiles played Elizabeth, a reporter based on one of the real women who inspired "Hustlers."

For many audiences, it had been nearly a decade since we'd seen Stiles, and she knew this was the role that could return her to the spotlight. She told Coveteur that she went after the part hard, straight-up telling director Lorene Scafaria that she wanted it badly. "[I] told her all the reasons why I loved what she had written, and at the end she was like, 'OK, well, there's a process of casting, but if you have any questions, let me know,' kind of wrapping it up," Stiles said. "And I was like, 'My question is what do I have to do to be in this movie?'"

The film was a critical smash, and Stiles even picked up some awards attention. "To hear about Oscar buzz, and to see that the film has made money," she told "Good Morning America," "... it's very exciting because it means that a story we were really excited to tell found an audience." Unfortunately, a nomination didn't materialize.

Julia Stiles was pregnant when she married Preston Cook, but that adorable baby bump wasn't her only experience with pregnancy. She's now a mother of three, having welcomed her first son Strummer Newcomb in 2017, a son named Arlo born in 2022, and a child whose identity she hasn't revealed sometime in 2023.

Stiles stays pretty private about her family life, largely avoiding sharing any of her children on social media. Still, she's given fans a few glimpses into her home life over the years. When Arlo was born, for example, Stiles posted an Instagram photo of a toilet seat that a certain someone had scribbled on. There was even a face drawn on the tank, complete with construction-paper beard. "Scroll Forward to see how my 4 year old is taking [the new addition to the family]..." Stiles wrote in the caption.

Her hesitation to share her children online might come from an incident in 2017 where she was criticized for how she'd been holding her then-newborn son Strummer. She posted an Instagram photo of The Clash — including Joe Strummer, from whom she took her son's name — and explained what was going on in the caption. "What was supposed to be a shout out of products I like, suddenly becomes an invitation to comment on my baby, and my ability as a mother," she wrote. After defending herself further, Stiles added, "Yes, Mothers, always read the safety instructions. But also, Instagrammers: instead of writing snarky comments about a 5 week old, try dancing around your living room to a Clash record. It's way more fun."

If you're wondering why you haven't seen much of Julia Stiles in the last few years, it might be because she's spent a lot of her time abroad. Between 2017 and 2020, Stiles starred on a British drama called "Riviera," which aired on Sky TV. She played Georgina, an American woman who must find her own way into British society after her rich new husband dies in an explosion. She told Forbes that she liked being able to peel back the curtain on the upper class, reflecting, "I think that's what appealed to me about the show when I first signed on to it was the famous quote about the French Riviera being a sunny place for shady people. So this contrast between the luxury and what is underneath it, seeing how wealth doesn't necessarily buy happiness, that it can create quite a lot of destruction."

The show filmed in France, and at first Stiles was worried about leaving then-fiance Preston Cook behind. "I panicked and thought, 'Oh my god, I'm going to be away for seven months,'" she told Marie Claire UK. Thankfully, he was able to get a job as a cameraman on the show, and "Riviera" became yet another project they did together. "They hired him because he has a great résumé and they needed someone bilingual," she clarified. "It turned into the most romantic experience ever."

Though Julia Stiles was primarily known for rom-coms at the height of her career, she also starred in a fair few horror movies. Her 2006 remake of "The Omen," for example, was a decent box office hit . In 2022, she returned to the genre when she starred in "Orphan: First Kill," a prequel to the cult-favorite 2009 film "Orphan."

The first film was about a girl named Esther, adopted into an American family only for them to find out she wasn't a girl at all, but a murderous grown woman who merely looked young. Star Isabelle Fuhrman was a child when she initially played the role, and she returned for the prequel anyway, even though she was now significantly older than her character was supposed to look. Forced-perspective trickery made her still seem small, which was a challenge for everyone on set. Stiles told Looper that she had to wear tall shoes to look like an adult opposite her co-star. "I was the one who wore lifts. I wish I had worn stilts! That would've been less humiliating than wearing these leather thigh-high boots with platforms that kept getting bigger," she joked. "We call them 'the Gene Simmons boots.'"

Stiles also said she was delighted by the script for the film, which involves her character much more than one might expect. "Unless you're playing the villain or unless you're playing the main character, the other roles can usually be like, you're playing a character that's in distress all the time," she said. "It's a really fun part, and there's definitely more to her than meets the eye."

2022 was a big year for Julia Stiles. In addition to her role in "Orphan: First Kill," that year also brought a starring role on yet another television show made somewhere other than America. Stiles played Maisy-May in a series called "The Lake," which was made in Canada and aired internationally on Amazon Prime Video. "The Lake" was altogether a more pleasant show than many of Stiles' other roles, and it wound up being mandatory viewing for anyone looking to achieve a cottagecore aesthetic.

Still, the aesthetic turned out to be a costume, and Maisy-May is a conniving character right in Stiles' wheelhouse. She told Elle Canada that she had a great time on set, explaining, "It was so freaking fun to play this character — and I don't know what that says about me because she is a reprehensible person. All of the traits that we hope get socialized out of a person are allowed to flourish within Maisy-May, and I got to embrace and embellish them," she reflected. "I guess it was cathartic."

Stiles wasn't the only one who enjoyed filming the show. Her younger co-star Madison Shamoun was impressed by the older actor's personality with her castmates, telling Untitled Magazine, "She's just the coolest. I have nothing but amazing things to say about her. Her first day on set was our scene together and she asked if I wanted to run lines and go over it. Like how giving is that? She's the best."

In 2024, "10 Things I Hate About You" turned 25, something that's sure to make many millennials feel old. Julia Stiles was asked to look back on that movie in an interview with The New York Times, reflecting on what it was like to star in such a pivotal teen film that launched the careers of many young actors. She said it was a pivotal film in her life, too, turning around her idea that she had to change herself to fit a role. "I was a 17-year-old girl, auditioning for romantic comedies and commercials and TV shows and always being told, 'You're too serious.' You know, 'Smile. You're too angsty.'" There are plenty of things you only notice about "10 Things I Hate About You" as an adult, but even as a teenager, Stiles got it. In her "10 Things" character Kat Stratford, she found someone she could relate to. "It was the first time that I had read a character in a teenage romantic comedy that spoke to me."

In another piece about the film's anniversary, this one for an Australian outlet called the Herald Sun (via Elle Australia), Stiles remembered working with the late, great Heath Ledger on the film. "He was a very magnetic presence on set, and he was like this force," she said. "He had a zest for life and ... he was never checked out. He was always totally engaged with everybody. Really interesting, remarkable person and actor."

These days, convicted abuser Harvey Weinstein makes headlines for his health issues in prison. At the height of Julia Stiles' career as teen-movie royalty, however, he was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, able to snap his fingers and make things happen. That's precisely how he was able to abuse so many actors over a period of decades, and in 2025, Stiles revealed that she, too, had had an uncomfortable experience with the producer.

The year was 2000, and Stiles was shooting "Down to You," a little-remembered entry in her filmography. She'd danced drunk on a table in "10 Things I Hate About You" and had already filmed "Save the Last Dance," which would come out the following year. Weinstein came to set and demanded they insert a dancing scene into "Down to You," too. "They were pouring money at it, like, in stupid ways," she told a podcast called "Films to Be Buried With" (via Buzzfeed). "So when we went and did reshoots, I'm told that he decided ... he needed to have me dancing in the film."

Stiles was uncomfortable with the way the film turned out, fearing that this new dancing scene had crossed a line. "It wasn't even imaginative," she said, "and I felt so slimy doing it, the whole time." To the shock of no one, the dancing sequence didn't save the film; it currently sits at a mere 3% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Though she's loved being an actor, the truth about Julia Stiles is that she's been talking for a long time about how much she wanted to direct. When she was promoting "The Lake," for example, Stiles said she was eager to get on the other side of the camera. She told Elle Canada, "A lot of being an actor on camera is waiting for other people to finish what they're doing and taking orders. Oftentimes, you're fulfilling someone else's vision. I'm ready to explore and focus on more than memorizing lines and performing."

That wish came true when Stiles directed "Wish You Were Here," a rom-com that came out in 2025. The movie starred her "Orphan: First Kill" co-star Isabelle Fuhrman as a young woman who falls in love with a terminally-ill man played by Mena Massoud. Speaking with Vogue, Stiles said her own years as a millennial rom-com queen affected her approach to the story. "[I] was very aware of having made a lot of movies about romance. Because I've been part of those trends, I was really conscious that this kind of movie could so easily veer into the corny," she said. "And so, I was trying really, really hard to keep it relatable and grounded in some sort of truth."

The movie took several years to come together, but Stiles said she was proud of the result. "I learned that I love [directing]," she said. "I'm totally hooked."